A man who is banned from being drunk in public spaces throughout Aberdeenshire has narrowly avoided jail – after he was caught “heavily intoxicated” in Inverurie.
Christopher Ettles, 39, was placed under the sweeping Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) four years ago at Banff Sheriff Court.
Appearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last week, Ettles admitted one breach of that order, after police found him drunk as they aided a taxi driver, who was having difficulty getting him to pay a fare.
Refused to leave the taxi
The court was told Ettles was also refusing to leave the cab, at around 2.45am on February 2 this year.
Fiscal depute Lydia Williams said Ettles was “heavily intoxicated” and was “making no sense”.
When police arrived at the taxi, which was on Inverurie’s Market Street, they carried out check which showed up Ettles’ ASBO.
Ettles also admitted to acting in a threatening and abusive manner to staff in the Co-op shop in Alford on April 27, 2025.
Aggressive behaviour
Ms Williams told the court Ettles had gone there at 8.30pm and had become “hostile” to staff who had phoned the police.
When police officers arrived at the shop, Ettles made threats to the staff saying he would “slash them” and “cut them to pieces” and “kill them”, the court heard.
“He was shouting at the officers,” Ms Williams went on. “And was then cautioned and arrested and taken to Kittybrewster Custody Suite.”
Ettles’ defence solicitor Chris Maitland said his client “very much regrets” his actions and cited his background report, which reads: “It is still possible to turn his life around.”
Attending AA classes
He said Ettles had recently been enjoying a “spell of sobriety” and was attending Alcoholic Anonymous classes online.
“He is trying,” Mr Maitland said. “But knows he is still struggling.”
Mr Maitland asked for a deferred sentence to “see how he gets on” with an ongoing Community Payback Order of unpaid hours, adding: “And to see if he can get a handle on things.”
Warning that jail is looming
Sheriff Lesley Johnston spoke to Ettles and said: “I have told you repeatedly that you need to sort out this alcohol addiction.
“You are in a cycle, getting so far, then falling back into alcohol misuse, then back to court.
“Given your record, I would have been minded to impose a custodial sentence without the need for another report.
“However, I am going to give you another chance to turn this around.
“You must take steps, because you are staring down the barrel of a lengthy custodial sentence if you do not.”
‘Please try harder’
She placed Ettles under a further Community Payback Order of 60 hours of unpaid work for threatening the shop staff.
Ettles, of Daviot, was admonished for breaching his ASBO.
Sheriff Johnston urged Ettles to “please try harder” as he left the dock.