An Angus man who got involved in a six-hour stand-off with police has avoided being sent to jail.
Specialist negotiators were deployed, and the street around Ross Brown’s Forfar home closed off, as officers dealt with repeated threats of violence in which the 31-year-old said he would invoke his own “force” through social media.
At one point in the day-long incident, Brown squirted liquid into the eye of a police officer through a front door peephole he had unscrewed, telling him: “I warned you to stop looking into my ******* house”.
Fortunately the substance proved to be water.
Described by his lawyer as an “articulate, intelligent young man”, Brown was eventually arrested at around tea time when he gave himself up after a final ultimatum by police.
Brown, of Lordburn Place, appeared for sentence before Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown at Forfar having previously admitted behaving in a threatening manner at his home on May 30 last year, assaulting a police officer and breaching bail.
Depute fiscal Stewart Duncan said police went to the property at around 11am to trace the accused in relation to a separate inquiry.
No-one answered the door but they were concerned to hear a child’s voice inside and after repeated attempts to find out if anyone was in the flat, Brown eventually made himself known just as they were about to force entry.
“He was standing on the other side of the door, saying he didn’t recognise their authority. And if they tried to enter he would stop them by using violence if necessary,” added Mr Duncan.
“Police described Brown as “ranting incoherently” and he told them he was recording the incident on his phone and would put it on Facebook and contact his own force, as he put it.”
Two hours later an officer looked through the gap where Brown had unscrewed a peep hole viewer and the then-unknown substance was squirted in his eye.
Mr Duncan added: “Roads were closed at Lordburn Place and around 1.30pm a negotiator spoke to him through the door.”
“Eventually he agreed to leave the property when given a final ultimatum around 4.45pm.”
Defence solicitor Michael Boyd said Brown was “embarrassed” by his behaviour.
“He has ongoing mental health problems, which appear to be much more stable at this point.
“He was contacted by a friend who told him police were on their way to his house because he was a suspect in a serious assault matter,
“Nothing came of that and he is adamant he had nothing to do with it. He is an intelligent, articulate young man but he has a problem controlling his emotions.”
“He is more than fully aware he could receive a custodial sentence for this offence.”
Sheriff Martin-Brown imposed a 12-month Community Payback Order including conditions of supervision and a conduct requirement to attend an understanding relationships programme.
