A man pulled a 10-inch blade during a street fight in an attempt to avoid paying back a drug debt.
Daniel Robertson, 37, was seen by members of the public waving a large kitchen knife around and making slashing movements towards another man on Aberdeen’s Wallfield Place.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Robertson pulled out the blade in an attempt to avoid paying a sizable drug debt.
His solicitor confirmed Robertson had a longstanding addiction to crack cocaine and heroin but said his client was “no knife man”.
He was later caught with 16 wraps of cocaine while in a police cell.
Fiscal depute Brain Young told the court that on the evening of July 3 last year residents heard shouting on Wallfield Place and looked out to see two men engaged in a “loud verbal argument”.
“The accused and the unidentified male appeared to be making attempts to goad each other into starting a physical fight,” Mr Young said.
“The witnesses saw that the accused was holding a large kitchen knife in his right hand.
“It was approximately 10 inches long, had a silver blade and a dark-coloured handle.
“The accused was seen to wave the knife in the air in the direction of the unidentified male and made slashing movement in a threatening manner.”
Those watching the exchange between the pair began filming the altercation.
However, they became more alarmed by Robertson’s behaviour and called police as they feared for the other man’s safety.
The unidentified male then ran down Wallfield Place towards Craigie Loanings and jumped into a taxi, which sped off.
Police soon traced Robertson to an address on Wallfield Place, where they found the knife and arrested him.
Addict was found with cocaine in police cell
Robertson, a waste management worker, was also facing sentencing for a bail breach and for being caught with 16 wraps of cocaine while in the cells at Kittybrewster Police Station on May 8 this year.
He was snared by police when his heavy breathing gave away that he was hiding under a bed after he had breached a bail order.
Later that evening, custody officers spotted Robertson acting suspiciously on CCTV and went to inspect his cell and found him with 16 wraps of cocaine and a pipe.
Robertson pleaded guilty to four charges, including behaving in a threatening manner and brandishing a knife and being in possession of a large blade.
He also admitted being involved in the supply of a controlled drug while in police cells at Kittybrewster Custody Suite on Great Northern Road and breaching his bail conditions.
Robertson’s defence solicitor Alex Burn told the court that most of his client’s life had been “bedevilled by drug misuse”.
He added: “Mr Robertson was meeting this individual and he owed a drug debt – it was a drug situation.
“His actions were wrong and he regrets this episode in his life.
“It is an unenviable record that he has, but he is no knife man and there’s nothing in his previous record that suggests that.”
Sheriff describes offences as ‘concerning’
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Robertson, who is already subject to a high tariff community payback order, that his offences were “concerning”.
“Especially the incident in which you became involved with someone to whom you owed a drug debt,” he said.
He added that he was also concerned that the altercation took place on the street close to the general public.
Sheriff Miller sentenced Robertson, of Great Northern Road, Aberdeen, to an 18-week restriction of liberty order.
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