An Inverness family suffered a terrifying ordeal when a stranger barged into their home with a knife and turned violent.
Ellis Williams confronted a mum and her children in the kitchen of their flat at Riverside Court on the evening of August 29, 2024.
The 22-year-old knife-wielding intruder appeared to be under the influence of something, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
When the kitchen door was slammed shut on him, to allow the kids to escape, Williams began shouting, swearing and stabbing the door with his knife.
The distraught mother shouted for help from neighbours, police were called and a nearby resident came to her rescue.
Attacker lunged at an occupant with his knife
However, Williams confronted the neighbour and the woman’s son, lunging at one of them – the knife scraping his jacket without causing injury.
Williams was disarmed and the flat door was held shut, trapping him inside until the police arrived.
The thug then chained the door shut, became verbally aggressive and threatened to harm the officers and their families before throwing a toaster and damaging a window.
Officers managed to get him out of the flat when some of his acquaintances arrived.
In the dock, Williams pled guilty to charges of behaving in a threatening manner and possession of a knife.
‘This was a terrifying’
Sheriff Sara Matheson jailed him for 30 months, backdating the prison sentence to August 30 last year when he was first remanded into custody.
She told him: “This was a terrifying event for all those involved and occurred in a domestic environment when you were a stranger to them.”
Williams must also take part in a substance misuse rehabilitation programme after his defence lawyer Shahid Latif said the abuse of substances was a problem for his client who had “developmental disorders.”
The sheriff also ordered Williams to be supervised by social workers for another year after his release from prison “to protect the public”.
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