A dad-of-three who followed and harassed a stranger as he walked through a town went on to tell police he was going to murder somebody.
Shane Rollo, 35, made chilling threats as he wandered through Elgin while under the influence of alcohol.
Fiscal depute Victoria Silver said the incident took place at around 8.20pm on May 15 last year.
Rollo followed his victim before he was confronted by police on Main Street and threatened to murder an officer too.
‘Mistaking him for someone else’
Ms Silver said: “The witness left his home to walk to the garage and as he approached the junction of Croft Road and Bezack Street he became aware of a male voice shouting and swearing. It shouted towards him as though he knew him.
“The witness tried to tell him he was mistaking him for someone else then walked away to continue his journey.”
But Rollo continued to follow closely behind the man, who ducked into the New Elgin filling station.
“The witness formed the opinion the accused was heavily under the influence,” Ms Silver added.
“Upon returning outside the complainer was followed again and the accused shouted that he was going to kill him.”
Alarmed by this the man called the police as Rollo continued to follow him back onto Bezack Street.
‘I’m going to kill people’
Police caught up with Rollo on High Street where he was seen “acting aggressively” and speaking in “incoherent rants”.
“He then shouted he was going to murder someone and that he was going to kill people,” the fiscal added.
He threatened to kill one officer, too.
He admitted a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Defence agent Iain Maltman said his unemployed client lives with his mum and has recently become the principal carer for his three young children.
“Mr Rollo regrets his actions,” the solicitor said. “He didn’t know the complainer. His relationship was breaking down and he had drank alcohol to excess. He had no recollection of the incidents himself.”
The court heard Rollo has sought help from Arrows to deal with alcohol misuse and that his children’s care requirements have “given him focus”.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood handed Rollo, of Manitoba Avenue, Elgin, 90 hours of unpaid work and a one-year supervision order as a direct alternative to custody.
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