A man has been jailed after he brandished a knife in the street outside his Inverness home.
Rafal Grzejszczak, 40, was seen shouting and swearing before he went into his home and emerged with the black-handled knife.
He initially held it by his side, but began to brandish the potential weapon as he became more animated.
Grzejszczak appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident outside his Carnac Crescent home on March 15 of this year.
Fiscal depute Adelle Gray said it was around 11.40pm that witnesses in a nearby property heard shouting.
‘Aggressively shouting and swearing’
She said: “On looking out of the window they noticed the now accused in the street outside his house, aggressively, shouting and swearing in Polish.”
The tirade was directed at a person further up the street and out of sight of the witnesses.
“The accused, then went back in the house and re-appeared holding a black-handled knife,” Ms Gray said.
Solicitor Willie Young, for Grzejszczak, said his client had “very little recollection of what took place that night” and added: “He cannot recall who he was directing his outburst towards.”
‘Heavily under the influence’
He said: “When police attended it was clear he was heavily under the influence of alcohol.”
Mr Young accepted that his client had been going in and out of the property and “ranting” at an individual and said: “He fully appreciates that this would have been alarming to anyone who witnessed this – he is apologetic.”
Sheriff Robert Frazer noted the accused’s previous convictions for threatening behaviour and possessing a knife in a public place.
He jailed Grzejszczak, of Carnac Crescent, Inverness, for four months.