A drunk man threatened his partner’s family, before throwing a knife at her.
Stephen Mackenzie woke from a drunken sleep and began to punch a door, before telling the woman he would stab her family members if they tried to come to the house.
Mackenzie, 36, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted a charge of threatening of abusive behaviour in relation to the incident on June 12 of last year.
Fiscal depute Iain Logan said that the woman had come home to find Mackenzie drunk and had left him sleeping on the sofa.
But she later found the accused “staggering around” the property in Macinnes Place, Inverness.
“The accused began punching at an open door to the living room,” Mr Logan said.
Man’s threats to partner’s family
“At that point, the accused made threats to the effect that he would stab family members of the complainer should they attempt to come to that address.”
After making the threats he took a kitchen knife from a knife block in the kitchen and threw it in the woman’s direction.
“It landed at her feet,” said Mr Logan
Mackenzie then picked up the knife block with knives still in it and hurled it as well.
The woman fled to a bedroom and called 999, before running out of the house.
When Mackenzie followed her she darted back into the property and locked the door behind her.
Mackenzie was subsequently arrested and charged.
Police caught man urinating on pavement
The court heard that Mackenzie had also admitted charges relating to an incident on December 3 of last year where police officers caught him urinating on a pavement.
When officers tried to engage with him he became “hostile” and “aggressive”, asking officers: “What are you going to do about it?”
He was put in a police vehicle where he continued to use aggressive language and headbutted the cell walls, prompting a further charge of threatening or abusive behaviour.
Solicitor Kevin Hughes told the court that his client had been abusing alcohol and dealing with some difficult family circumstances at the time of the offences.
He said: “This is not an excuse, simply to put matters in context.”
Mr Hughes said Mackenzie, now of Anderson Street, Inverness, did not consider himself an alcoholic but added: “Clearly alcohol and offending behaviour are linked.”
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said the first offence involved Mackenzie “behaving in a shocking and violent manner towards your then partner” and placed him on a community payback order with 80 hours of unpaid work in the community.
She imposed a further 80 hours of unpaid work in relation to the second incident.
