An Aberdeen couple were woken in the middle of the night by their drunken neighbour shouting and swearing in the stairwell – while wielding a sword.
Kyle O’Neill had been on an alcohol and drug binge when he took to the communal stairwell of the Bucksburn block of flats in the early hours of the morning.
Startled neighbours were woken by his shouts and screams, but their shock quickly turned to terror when they looked outside and saw he was holding the large weapon.
O’Neill, 34, brandished the sword at a female resident when she stepped out into the hallway, sending her fleeing back into her flat to call the police.
Armed officers then raced to the Auchmill Road block to stop O’Neill before matters could escalate further.
‘Prison sentence is inevitable’
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened around 1.30am on March 27 last year.
She said the complainer and her boyfriend had been asleep in their flat when they were awoken by “shouting and banging” in the stairwell area.
They got up and looked through the peephole but initially couldn’t see anyone.
Another neighbour opened their door and could hear O’Neill shouting “you’re a grass” repeatedly.
The complainer and her partner then also stepped into the hallway where they saw O’Neill “in possession of a large sword”.
They formed the opinion he was “under the influence of something” and appeared “paranoid”.
O’Neill shouted at the woman, calling her a “rat” and a “slut” before motioning towards her with the frightening weapon.
‘Must have been exceptionally frightening’
The couple, sensing O’Neill was going to attack them, ran back inside their flat and called the police.
Armed officers raced to the address and traced O’Neill still within the hallway, but without the sword.
O’Neill was arrested and, when his address was searched, the sword was recovered from a bedroom cupboard.
O’Neill, now of West North Street, Aberdeen, pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and possession of a sword.
Defence agent Liam Mcallister said his client led a “chaotic lifestyle” and had binged on alcohol and drugs prior to the incident.
He added: “He wishes no ill-will to his neighbours and apologises profusely to them.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told O’Neill: “You recognise, given the circumstances of this offence, a prison sentence is inevitable.
“To behave in the way you did must have been exceptionally frightening for the people affected by your behaviour.
“To brandish an item like a sword at people is just completely unacceptable.”
The sheriff jailed O’Neill for 14 months.
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