A man has been electronically tagged after he strolled into a Wetherspoons and pulled a kitchen knife from his waistband before pointing it at a barman.
Dominic Imray, 21, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted threatening the bar worker at Archibald Simpson’s pub by loudly demanding to know why his friends had left him.
Having no idea, the quick-thinking barman suggested that perhaps they had left through the back door.
Imray then placed the blade back into his waistband and walked out the rear exit of the bar.
His solicitor, Liam Mcallister, told the court his client had been abusing drugs at that time and was “horrified and mortified” by his behaviour.
Knife was near barman’s face
Fiscal Rebecca Thompson told the court that at around 12.05am the barman was standing talking to a colleague at Archibald Simpson’s when Imray burst in and asked aggressively where his friend had gone.
The barman tried to calm him down, but Imray then pulled a kitchen knife from the waistband of his shorts and pointed it towards him in a threatening manner.
Pointing the knife about a foot away from the barman’s face, Imray repeated his demand.
“You have to tell me where they are,” he said.
The barman suggested that perhaps Imray’s friend had left through the rear exit to the bar, which prompted him to place the knife back into his waistband and leave through the fire exit.
The police were contacted and CCTV operators monitored Imray’s movements as officers intercepted Imray on Fredrick Street.
He was cautioned, arrested and searched with the officers finding a knife within Imray’s waistband.
In the dock, Imray pleaded guilty to one charge of behaving in a threatening manner and a second charge of being in possession of a knife.
‘Grave concerns’
His solicitor, Mr Mcallister, described Imray as a “young man” of which the court will “have grave concerns that this is his second conviction”.
“He has taken full responsibility for his offending behaviour and was at that time abusing drugs on a daily basis,” the solicitor said.
“Mr Imray was leading a chaotic life and it’s all borne from traumatic events in his childhood that he never really dealt with.
“He is horrified and mortified by his behaviour – and he’s grateful and thankful that it wasn’t more serious.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace told Imray that it was a “serious offence” he had pleaded guilty to, adding: “You had a knife in a licensed premises”.
“I’m not going to send you to custody today because of your age,” the sheriff said.
“But any more of this type of offending and you will lose this opportunity and will be sent to prison.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wallace made Imray, of Park Road, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order and supervision for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
He also made Imray subject to an electronic tag for 10 months.
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