Extortionist spat on his drunk neighbour

AN extortionist who spat in his neighbour’s face after she returned home drunk has been jailed.

John Menzie spat on the woman after she returned home to Gleneagles Road from a night out on August 23.

Menzie was locked up by a city sheriff in September after forming a scheme to blackmail a prostitute out of £10,000.

The 56-year-old had written a menacing letter to the woman, outlining details for a drop-off for the money.

However, his “amateurish” scheme was foiled after the woman went to the police.

Menzie was sentenced to four months in prison for spitting on his neighbour by Sheriff Keith O’Mahony, which will run alongside his 14-month prison sentence, imposed in September.

Prosecutor David Currie told the court: “The complainer was returning from an evening out with friends. “She was under the influence of alcohol.

“There was an exchange of words between the accused and the complainer that went on a short time and culminated in the accused spitting in the face of the complainer.” Menzie, a prisoner of HMP Perth, appeared from custody to admit the assault.

Defence solicitor Gary McIlravey said Menzie was “not proud” of his actions, adding the assault had been “born out of frustration”.

A court heard in July how Menzie told a woman to pay him £10,000 in “used notes” to avoid her secret being exposed to her employers and members of her family.

He posted her a letter which read: “Do you remember the old saying, your past is creeping up on you? Well, yours is about to rear its ugly head.”

Menzie had discovered the woman’s secret and pretended to her that he had video footage of her in a hotel room with a client.

He planned to stage a movie style “drop” for the money which he needed to pay off substantial debts he had mounted up.

But his victim went to the police and his scheme – which was branded “amateurish” by his own lawyer – unravelled, leading to his arrest.