A joiner from Elgin who admitted it’s “not best practice” to go to a confrontation armed with a claw hammer has been ordered to address any alcohol issues he has.
Douglas Chalmers wielded the weapon at another man in a car park close to Lhanbryde Primary School in a row over a motorbike.
A passing dog walker was so alarmed at seeing the 48-year-old “nose-to-nose” with his victim that she immediately called the police.
Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar told Elgin Court the woman saw the pair going at it in a car park next to the school at 6pm on September 23 last year.
Offered a ‘square go’ in Elgin car park
“She saw two males going nose-to-nose with each other and saying things like ‘square go’ and ‘come on then’,” he said.
“She saw one of the males holding a hammer. She continued to walk past and called the police.”
Officers arrived and found the blue-gripped tool in Chalmers’ nearby vehicle.
Chalmers admitted a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour on the morning of his trial at Elgin Sheriff Court.
Hammer carrying ‘not best practice’
Defence agent Kevin Anderson said his client had issues with the man regarding a motorbike and said his wife and his children had been “badgered to a point it had come to a head”.
“His intention was to meet up with the man and sort things out once and for all,” the solicitor added. “It’s accepted by him that it’s not best practice to go to a confrontation armed with a hammer.”
The court heard “alcohol was consumed on this occasion”, but that Chalmers accepted full responsibility, had expressed remorse and “wants to put this behind him”.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov handed Chalmers, of Main Street, Urquhart, Elgin, a nine-month supervision order during which he must cooperate with Moray Drug and Alcohol Services.
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