A 48-year-old Dingwall man will be sentenced next month after admitting illegally possessing a knife in the town.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told yesterday that Liam MacGuire, now an Inverness prisoner but then living in High Street, claimed he was being bullied after being arrested by police, after officers had been called to a disturbance there around 9.15 a.m. on June 10.
Fiscal Roderick Urquhart told Sheriff Margaret Neilson: “Police constables attended and found another man, well known to the police and courts.
“This individual suffered a serious head injury over 15 years ago and has had behavioural problems since then.
“The other man referred MacGuire having had a knife. Following further calls the police returned and found the other man now shouting and swearing in the street.
“When he was spoken to again he butted a constable on the head and was arrested.
“The police then spoke to two independent witnesses who said that they had seen MacGuire in possession of a kitchen knife which they estimated to be about nine inches in length and to have a “very sharp point.”
Mr Urquhart said MacGuire was traced and arrested.
“Asked if he had anything to say, he replied: “Not really. He’s been bullying me for a long time. I’m sorry; I hear voices; it’s not my fault. He calls me a bam.”
Mfr Urquhart added that a subsequent psychiatric assessment concluded that MacGuire was sane and fit to plead.
He went on: “The psychiatrist seemed to accept that MacGuire heard voices but was of the opinion he was not having auditory hallucinations ‘related in any way to mental illness as distinct from intense thoughts he might experience himself.’
MacGuire will return for sentence on October 28 after a background report has been prepared. He was again remanded.
