Hammer threat charge

A restaurant boss is to stand trial accused of threatening a man with a hammer.

Syed Hamid, known as Raj, is alleged to have shouted, acted aggressively and brandished a hammer in a threatening manner at a property on Thistle Drive, Portlethen on October 3.

The head chef and owner of the Carron to Mumbai restaurant in Stonehaven appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he pled not guilty to one charge of possession of a weapon and another of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

His solicitor Stuart Beveridge said Hamid, 48, was launching proceedings against the man involved in the alleged incident.

“The complainer in the case is a squatter at a property owned by my client,” the solicitor said.

Sheriff Morag McLaughlin set intermediate and trial diets for early next year.