A teenager brandished an axe at two female social workers in a terrifying attack as they tried to visit his friend.
The local authority workers had called at Leone Rennie’s address on Duke Street, Fraserburgh, to visit his friend, when Rennie appeared holding an axe above his head with both hands.
The 19-year-old brandished the weapon at the petrified women, as his friend tried to push him back inside the flat.
But Rennie appeared at the door a second time, still holding the axe, before the social workers fled and contacted the police.
Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the women were employed by Aberdeenshire Council as a support worker and a community justice worker, dealing with people with substance misuse difficulties.
They didn’t know Rennie.
She said: “At around 2.30pm on June 3 2020 the complainers attended at the accused’s home in order to see the accused’s friend who was living with him.”
The friend answered the door when one of the women knocked, but Rennie “appeared from behind, holding an axe with both hands above his head”.
Rennie was “trying to barge past his friend and brandishing the axe at the complainers”.
Social workers were left ‘very shaken’
One of the women “exclaimed in shock and horror at the sight”, and Rennie’s friend turned around and pushed him back inside the flat.
Moments later Rennie appeared back at the door, still holding the axe but not brandishing it.
He was pushed back inside again by the friend, who explained that there had been people at the door earlier, and Rennie might have thought the social workers were someone else.
The friend advised Rennie had also been drinking.
Ms MacVicar said: “The complainers left and contacted the police, while the accused’s friend contacted another friend to come round and help him calm the accused down.
“Both complainers were left very shaken as a result of the incident. It was suspected by them that the accused was under the influence of drugs at the time.”
Rennie had a ‘chaotic lifestyle at the time’
Police attended the address at 4pm, when Rennie answered the door and let them in. Two friends, on request, handed over the axe, which had been down the side of the living room sofa.
In an earlier incident on April 30 2020, Rennie began to message a man on Facebook, accused him of committing incest and challenged him to fight.
He threatened to smash the man’s girlfriend’s windows if he wouldn’t meet him. He also used homophobic terms and threatened to “cut” and “torture” the man.
Police were contacted.
Rennie, of Union Grove, Fraserburgh, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner over the messages, and to assault over the axe incident.
Defence agent Andrew Ormiston said his client was now in full-time employment in the landscaping industry.
He said Rennie had a “chaotic lifestyle at the time through alcohol and drug misuse” and had had an “adverse experience during his childhood”.
Sheriff Andrew Miller said: “The whole picture speaks to someone who requires some support to avoid behaving in this manner in future.”
He ordered Rennie, to be supervised for 12 months and complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
He also granted a crown motion for forfeiture of the axe.