Thug jailed for 12-hour mast stand-off
A DRUG user who sparked a 12-hour standoff with police after clambering 200ft up a television mast has been jailed.
Steven Urquhart scaled the transmitter, removed his clothing and drank alcohol during the incident.
The 24-year-old eventually allowed rescuers to help him when the temperature dropped and he could not climb down.
Urquhart, of Munlochy, Ross-shire, was yesterday jailed for 16 months for climbing the 800ft Mounteagle transmitter near Fortrose, Ross-shire. He was dealt with for previous offences including possessing a knife and resisting arrest.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard the standoff began after 8am on September 4 and ended at 8.45pm when Urquhart begged for help after he nearly fell off.
Fiscal depute Ross Carvel said staff at the Arqiva mast called police, ambulance and fire services, who sent rope access experts and negotiators.
He repeatedly refused to comply with their instructions to secure his safety and dangled from one arm, injuring himself.
Fiscal depute Ross Carvel said: ‘He took his top off, drank alcohol and was abusive to everyone. But his tone changed when, only wearing his jeans, the temperature had begun to drop. He was perilously close to falling, panicked and was shouting, “I don’t want to die”.’
Mr Carvel said the rope access experts put him in a harness to take him down.
Defence solicitor Clare Russell said Urquhart’s addictions formed the background to his offending.