Man warned he would ‘wipe out’ airport staff

COURT: Joiner from Angus appeared for sentencing in possession of a knife

An Angus man who threatened to “wipe out” an airport during a post-Paris attacks rant was spared jail despite appearing for sentence with a knife.

Jonathan Gourley, 43, of Kirriemuir, told petrified airport staff he had been in the military for more than 20 years and had just returned from war-torn Syria.

He is actually a joiner who has never been in the armed forces and had only been to Syria on holiday.

Gourley arrived at Glasgow Airport on November 16, hours after the Paris atrocities which left 130 people dead.

After being told he was too drunk to buy a plane ticket, he said: “I’ve just pulled out of Syria. I was in the military for 21 years. I’m very high up in the military, I could wipe you all out.”

He pleaded guilty to breaching the peace but when he returned to Paisley Sheriff Court for sentencing in January was found with a penknife, a “family heirloom” he always carried.

Defence solicitor Mark Chambers acknowledged Gourley, above, who had facial reconstructive surgery after he was assaulted and robbed in his home last October, “couldn’t have possession of a knife in a worse place”.

Sheriff Pender said: “Young thugs going out in the evening putting a comb in one pocket and a knife in the other have to be dealt with very seriously.

“Possession of a knife in a court building almost puts it off the scale.

“You’re apparently an intelligent person, I don’t know why you would do such a daft thing.”

Gourley, who was given a community payback order as punishment for his airport comments, had sentence deferred until April.