A man has been fined after phoning 999 and telling police he was going to assault another person he’d asked to buy him drugs.
Alistair Sorrie, 41, dialled the emergency number from a phonebox near Morrisons in Aberdeen, and complained he’d given a man money to buy him drugs, and that he hadn’t come back.
But when the cops told him this wasn’t a crime, and that officers were on their way to speak to him, he said he would take matters into his own hands and “smash his brains in”.
Crown narrative
Fiscal depute Janet MacDonald handed the sheriff a list of Sorrie’s previous convictions.
She told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The offence happened at 4.50pm on February 9 at the telephone kiosk near Morrisons on King Street, Aberdeen.
“The accused called 999 to report a male had gone to buy drugs on his behalf and had not returned.
“The call handler advised the accused that what he was reporting was not a crime and officers were on their way to discuss the matter with him.”
Sorrie said he was “dissatisfied” and that he would “take matters into his own hands”.
He then told the call handler: “I’m going to smash his brains in.”
The charge
Sorrie, of Craigievar Place, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a charge of making calls that were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character, by repeatedly contacting 999 and threatening to assault the man.
Mitigation
Defence agent Caitlin Pirie acknowledged her client had an “extensive record”.
She added: “He accepts fully the evidence against him.
“He’d phoned police due to money being stolen from him. He accepts he should not have phoned the emergency number.”
Ms Pirie said Sorrie had made the threat out of “frustration” and “anger”.
She added: “That is a matter of much regret.
“He has managed to completely withdraw from alcohol since a road traffic accident earlier this year
“He has completely withdrawn from drugs.
“The drugs he’d asked the man to purchase were sleeping tablets.”
Ms Pirie added Sorrie had given the man £65.
The sentence
Sheriff Margaret Hodge told Sorrie: “I’m prepared to accept what your agent has said on your behalf about the circumstances surrounding this and the fact you have withdrawn from alcohol.
“You will appreciate this was an extremely foolish thing to do.”
She ordered Sorrie to pay a fine totalling £110.
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