A pensioner who attempted to punch two female police officers has been told his behaviour is “simply unacceptable for a man of his age”.
Robert Dunlop, 66, tried to assault the two officers when they arrived to break up a dispute at a house party he had attended in the Mastrick area of Aberdeen.
Despite the dispute having nothing to do with him, Dunlop went to assault one female officer and then another when she removed a drinking glass from his hand.
He went on to call both officers vile, derogatory names.
Dunlop, who has a long record of previous convictions, then proceeded to repeatedly kick the cage of the police van as he was driven off to custody.
Pointed at police officers
Fiscal depute Brooklyn Shaw told the court that at around 11.30pm on April 23 this year, the two police officers arrived at an address on Mastrick Drive over an unrelated matter.
While there, they advised Dunlop to leave and he immediately became verbally abusive to the officers, shouting “f*** you” and pointing at them.
Dunlop then stood up from a couch that he was sitting on and attempted to punch one of the female officers in the face but missed.
“The accused was holding a glass and as the other police officer removed it from his hand, he tried to punch her,” Ms Shaw said.
As he was arrested, Dunlop repeatedly referred to the female officers by derogatory terms.
Dunlop was placed inside the back of a police van and was locked inside a cage, which he repeatedly kicked as they drove him to Kittybrewster Police Station.
In the dock, Dunlop pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and a further charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
‘He only acts like this with a drink’
Defence solicitor Neil McRobert told the court that his client suffered from anxiety and depression and had used alcohol to “deal with that”.
“He only acts like this with a drink in him,” the solicitor said.
“His recollection of events is not great and thankfully there was no actual contact [with the police officers], which is fortunate for him.
“But he cannot get away from the fact that this behaviour is completely unacceptable.”
Sheriff Rhona Wark told Dunlop: “Your behaviour on this occasion is beyond the pale and simply unacceptable for a man of your age – it cannot continue.”
She made Dunlop, of Rosewell Gardens, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for 12 months.
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