A man who was found carrying a knife in just his underwear has been handed a three-year supervision order after it emerged he discovered the body of murdered toddler James Bulger when he was a teenager.
James Riley was dumped out of a car and onto an Aberdeen street after having been stripped of his clothes and searched for money.
He was also carrying an eight-inch knife and tried to hide it under a car when police approached him on Cornhill Drive on April 25.
It left the 43-year-old, from Liverpool, with post-traumatic stress disorder and a problem with alcohol and drugs.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that what Riley encountered 28 years ago had left a lasting impact on his life and led him into a world of drugs, alcohol and depression.
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson said members of the public saw him acting in an erratic manner at 7.30am on April 25 and police were called.
When police arrived a passing driver pointed out where Riley had hidden the knife and he was taken into custody.
He resisted officers as they attempted to take fingerprint and DNA samples and, as he was being returned to his cell, Riley then made a number of derogatory and homophobic remarks and uttered threats of violence.
Scarred by discovery of James Bulger
James disappeared while shopping with his mother at New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.
The toddler’s death was an extremely high-profile case in the UK – and led to the conviction of 10-year old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.
Mr Longino said: “Mr Riley is a man whose entire adult life and a big part of his childhood has been blighted by the discovery of James Bulger’s body.
“This was after the murder of that child and the body had been damaged by a train.
“This was a horrific thing. Mr Riley and his brother find it exceptionally difficult to deal with the memories of that scene.
“It has led to a lifelong issue with dinking and a cycle of offending.”
Targeted by others in the city
Riley had been stripped by unknown men and forced out of a car, with the knife, in his underwear.
“He was in a very poor physical state when he came to this area,” Mr Longino added. “He tells me that with his connection to Liverpool and the drugs trade in this area, people clearly assumed he was involved in that.
“He had been attacked, and threatened and asked for money. He was a penniless individual with his addiction.”
He had previously told the court that Riley had built up so much drug debt in Liverpool that he came up to Aberdeen to escape it but was later picked up by a group of men, searched for money and thrown out of the car.
He added that Riley had an “extensive” criminal record and a “massive drug problem”.
Mr Longino added that Riley, a father, was “very intoxicated” during this incident and later at the police station – but said his client “at no point threatened anyone or did anything with the knife”.
He added police “clearly didn’t perceive him as any kind of threat,” at the police station. “He couldn’t stand. He was talking gibberish.”
Sheriff Philip Mann was told Riley is now completely drug-free following an intense detox during the past six months in HMP Grampian.
He handed Riley – who video link from HMP Grampian – a community payback order by way of a three-year supervision requirement, as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.
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