A man who entered a police station with a knife saying he wanted to hurt people has been jailed for 16 months.
David Dunn, 53, walked into the reception area of Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness and announced that he was carrying a knife.
When officers seized the weapon he told them he was “angry” and “wanted to hurt people”.
Dunn appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of possessing a bladed or sharply pointed article in a public place.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair said the incident took place on the morning of April 13 this year.
“He stated to reception staff that he was in possession of a knife,” she told the court.
Officers were called and immediately detained and searched Dunn, recovering a black-handled knife in the process.
Armed man ‘wanted to hurt people’
“The accused stated he was angry and wanted to hurt people,” Mrs Gair added.
Solicitor Patrick O’Dea, for Dunn, said his client had been living in a Salvation Army hostel in the run-up to the incident and was “dissatisfied with life” and angry.
He said: “This is not the first time he has had a knife in a public place. While he does not appear to be overly motivated when he is saying he wants to hurt someone that is still his position.”
Mr O’Dea added that his client had taken a somewhat sensible course of action when these feelings had come to the fore, saying: “He did have the presence of mind to go to the police station when he was feeling this way.”
Mr O’Dea told Sheriff Sara Matheson that his client had not pled guilty at the earliest opportunity because he wanted to be kept in custody “for as long as possible”.
He added: “He recognises that he is having these feelings and he does not want to act on these feelings.”
Recognising that this was the sixth conviction for similar matters Sheriff Matheson told Dunn that she saw no alternative to a custodial sentence and jailed him for 16 months, backdating the sentence to April 14.
She also granted a motion for the forfeiture of the knife.