Samurai sword siege man jailed

A man who sparked a fourhour siege with armed police after pulling a Samurai sword on an electrician who couldn’t fix his boiler has been jailed.

Clark Smith was sentenced to two years and eight months over the bizarre incident in Dundee last December.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that the city council had sent electrician Iain Maclean on a late night call to Smith’s flat in the Charleston area of Dundee on 28 December because he had no heating. Mr Maclean identified the fault – but said a gas engineer would need to deal with it, angering Smith, who began screaming abuse at Mr Maclean as he tried to leave the property around 10pm.

Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin told the court that Smith then emerged from the flat wielding a Samurai sword and screaming: “Run, run, f ****** run. Go back to your own scheme.”

Miss Gilmartin added: “A 999 call was made and police attended. As a sword was involved a full firearms incident was declared and firearms officers, a negotiator, a dog van and uniformed officers were sent to the property.

“The accused surrendered himself around 2.55am and was taken to the police station.”

Smith, 28, of Leith Walk, Dundee, pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.

Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Smith for 32 months.