An inmate at HMP Grampian will serve an extra 12 months behind bars after a cell rampage that saw him threaten to throw boiling water over prison officers.
Dale Davidson also ripped apart his cell’s shower before sharpening part of the door to create a make-shift weapon, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard.
When brave staff at the Peterhead prison arrived to calm the situation they were met by the enraged inmate brandishing the shower door like a battering ram and threatening to stab anyone who set foot inside his cell.
Davidson also threatened to take a hostage.
‘Going to get stabbed’
Fiscal depute Lynzi told the court officers found the 34-year-old behaving “erratically” and damaging items within his cell.
“He made verbal threats stating that one of the staff was going to get stabbed the second they opened the door,” she said.
“The accused had removed the shower door from the cell and was using it as a ram. The verbal threats escalated. He stated he was armed, he had a kettle of boiling water ready to harm prison staff and he was going to take a hostage if staff entered his cell.”
Fallout stemmed from ‘minor dispute’
After attempts to engage with Davidson verbally failed, a restraints team was formed and officers wearing protective equipment entered the cell.
“The accused charged at by the team and was suitably restrained and put under control,” Mrs Souter added.
He was taken to solitary confinement and when officers returned to his cell to take photographs of the damage – which cost £1,104 to repair – they found part of the shower door had been sharpened to a point and was lying on the floor.
Defence agent Michael Horsman said Davidson was “anxious to stress” that the sharpened piece of door was not intended as a weapon.
He added that the destructive binge came about following a “minor dispute” over Davidson’s anxiety, stress and paranoia medication and that he “simply lost it”.
Sentencing
Sherrif Philip Mann heard that no officers were injured in the September 24 rammy and that Davidson had been suffering from anxiety and depression at the time.
He sentenced Davidson to 12 months imprisonment.
