Man ranted at police from flat barricade

An under-theinfluence man used furniture to barricade himself inside his flat during a tense stand-off with police at a Perth tower block.

Trained negotiators attempted to coax Mark Clephane out of his home in Pomarium Street in the early hours of April 9 2020.

The 32-year-old bellowed through the door “piggy b ****** s” and also made a disablist slur to one of the officers.

Clephane was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm, following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court that began in April.

He was further convicted of restricting, obstructing or hindering police by barricading the entrance to his flat and an internal door with furniture in an attempt to prevent them getting inside.

Clephane – who said he had no memory of the events – also failed to comply with a breathalyser test after he was suspected of driving a Vauxhall Vectra earlier that evening, after taking drink or drugs.

Sheriff Francis Gill told him: “There could have been very serious consequences for you, other road users or pedestrians.

“A number of officers attended to help you. But you shouted and swore at them and refused to let them inside.”

Clephane was disqualified from driving for two years, ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and placed on supervision for a year.

David Fenwick, 59, a security guard at the flats, told the court that he heard a car arrive with “music blaring” and the driver “shouting his lungs out”.

The motorist was swearing incoherently at people in the flats, Mr Fenwick said. He called police when the driver walked into the block.

Detective Sergeant Scott Carswell said police had to force entry into Clephane’s flat.

Clephane had locked himself in his room, DS Carswell told the trial.

“We were getting told to f*** off, getting called piggy b ****** s and things like that. It was very aggressive,” he said.

“We were concerned about his welfare because we could see blood on the door.”

Detective Constable Christopher Smith, 38, told the court that officers tried to calm Clephane while he was barricaded in his bedroom.

“I tried to build a rapport but it wasn’t working,” he told fiscal depute Andrew Harding.

Asked by solicitor David Holmes if it had occurred to him that Clephane may have been suffering mental illness, DC Smith said: “It’s something that is always at the back of your mind but at the time – given how he appeared – he appeared to be under the influence of something.”

Clephane told his trial “it was all a bit of blur” and conceded that he could not dispute any of the police witness’s evidence.

STAND-OFF: Mark Clephane piled furniture up behind the door of his tower block home.