A Fraserburgh man avoided jail after being spotted brandishing a knife at a man in the town centre.
Sean McGillivary, 40, was seen by an off-duty police officer on August 4 last year, near Fraserburgh Bus Station, carrying a knife.
The officer had been at a nearby cafe with a friend when she raised the alarm.
Fiscal depute Ruairidh McAllister told the court at around 1.15pm McGillivary was seen having an argument with another man on the town’s Hanover Street and he was carrying a knife.
‘Serrated knife’
The knife was said to be around six inches in length and had a serrated edge.
Mr McAllister explained that the police officer had witnessed the two men arguing but she stated that the distance between the two was “too great” for her to fear any immediate danger.
McGillivary was heard to shout “I will kill you” before the other man ran off and was spotted removing something from his pocket and throwing it into a flower bed.
The police were called and arrived a short time later and they searched nearby garden planters but no knife was recovered.
The two men had a misunderstanding
McGillivary, who was known to the off-duty police officer, was taken to Fraserburgh police station and charged with having a knife.
Iain Jane, McGillivary’s defence agent, said his client’s behaviour was unacceptable and that the two men had a misunderstanding.
He went on: “[McGillivary] had exacerbated matters by standing in the street with a weapon.”
Mr Jane told the court the complainer did not give a statement and had no willingness to press charges against McGillivary, but the two witnesses both recognised him.
‘He accepts he is the architect of his own situation’
He went on to say McGillivary had been consuming alcohol and other substances that day and claimed to be a victim of assault himself by the other man involved, and that McGillivary’s partner had also been struck by the man.
“He felt he should stand up for her,” Mr Jane said. “He grabbed an item from the kitchen – and shouting began between the two parties.
“Both got nowhere close enough to each other, but they were shouting, and the complainer was egging him on.
“He was saying ‘bring it on’ and ‘I’m not scared of him’ – nothing other than that.”
Mr Jane mentioned McGillivary’s previous convictions, one from 2022 involving possession of a knife and another from 2021 involving a crowbar.
“He accepts he is the architect of his own situation. He uses illegal drugs as a coping strategy.”
Sheriff Craig Findlater said it was a serious offence, adding: “You brandished and lunged with the knife – they take lives fairly regularly in this country.”
He placed McGillivary under supervision for 18 months and ordered him to undertake a conduct requirement to engage with drug and alcohol services for the same period.
McGillivary, of Granary Place, was handed 150 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody and given 12 months to complete them.
