A man fell off the wagon after eight months sober and threatened to stab his friend’s dogs with a pair of scissors.
Without warning, Ritchie Findlay pulled out the scissors during a house party in the Tillydrone area of the city and also threatened to stab two women.
Assuming his behaviour would result in a prison sentence, Findlay, 30, told officers while in custody that when he got out of jail he would be “going back for” the females.
‘I’ll be going back for them’
Fiscal depute Claire Stewart told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that on August 11 this year Findlay attended at the flat on Tedder Road along with a friend.
The group was socialising until, at around 8pm, Findlay pulled out a pair of red-handled kitchen scissors and threatened to “stab” the two women present.
He also warned that he would stab the homeowner’s two dogs.
One woman ran from the building in terror and was able to flag down a passerby, who allowed her to call the police on her mobile phone.
When officers arrived, Findlay ran from the flat but police were able to trace him nearby.
After he was arrested and taken to Kittybrewster Police Station, Findlay made further threats toward the women, stating: “They forget I bide in Tillydrone. When I get out of prison I get out of prison”.
Upon being informed that what he was saying was being recorded, Findlay added: “I’ll be going back for them.”
He then made a racist slur towards an officer.
Findlay pleaded guilty to two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
‘Foolish decision’
Defence solicitor Debbie Ginniver told the court that her client had been walking with a friend that day when they were invited back to the property.
“He told me that he made a foolish decision and he knows that alcohol and drugs are the crux of his offending,” she said.
“This was the first time he had consumed alcohol since he had been released from prison – he had been sober for eight months up to this point.”
She added that Findlay “knows it’s no coincidence” his drinking is linked to his offending behaviour.
Sheriff Eric Brown sentenced Findlay, of Papermill Gardens, Aberdeen, to a community payback order with 100 hours of unpaid work.
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