A man who brandished a baseball bat at a complete stranger and asked him “Are you scared?” was threatening the wrong person.
Stuart Gerrard appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted walking into a Premier Store in Turriff and approaching a customer before waving the bat around aggressively.
One employee managed to grab Gerrard and restrained him on the ground before removing the bat from his hands as they waited for police to arrive.
During a search of Gerrard’s shoulder bag, officers found he also had a kitchen knife in his possession.
His solicitor told the court that the whole incident at the store was a “case of mistaken identity”.
‘Are you scared?’
Fiscal depute David Ballock said that at around 4.20pm on December 9 last year, staff at the shop saw Gerrard standing outside holding a silver baseball bat.
As he entered, he immediately became angry with a female staff member and shouted: “Have you got a problem?”
Gerrard then approached a man who was paying for items at the till and, whilst holding the baseball bat, repeatedly asked him: “Are you scared?”
Staff attempted to de-escalate the situation but Gerrard continued acting in a threatening manner.
As he was asked to leave the store, Gerrard became even angrier and began waving his arms and the bat around close to the shop manager and the man he’d initially threatened.
“To protect his staff and customers, the manager took hold of the accused and escorted him out of the locus,” Mr Ballock said.
“He then restrained the accused on the floor and removed the baseball bat from his possession while a staff member contacted police.
“As police officers attended they saw the accused on the ground with the manager restraining him with his arms behind his back.
“A police constable applied handcuffs to the accused while the circumstances were being established.”
Prior to placing Gerrard in a marked police van, they searched a small black shoulder bag and found that he had a kitchen knife with a 3.5 inch blade.
Gerrard pleaded guilty to one charge of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.
He also admitted two further charges relating to possession of offensive weapons – a baseball bat and a knife.
‘Case of mistaken identity’
Defence solicitor Iain Jane told the court that Gerrard had had an “ongoing dispute” with a gentleman in the local area and “decided to have a confrontation with him”.
Mr Jane added: “But it was a case of mistaken identity.”
He continued: “Mr Gerrard finds himself very close to being remanded in custody over these matters.
“This is clearly a matter where a custodial sentence would be justified.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Gerrard: “This is clearly a serious incident where you behaved in an unpleasant and threatening way to a complete stranger.
“You also had with you a baseball bat and a knife within your rucksack.”
Sheriff Miller gave Gerrard, of Moray Street, Macduff, three months to be of good behaviour.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.