A Perth man threatened to burn down a newsagent’s after he was asked to comply with coronavirus regulations.
Kieran Phillips flew into a rage at RS McColl in Perth’s Rannoch Road.
A queuing customer asked the 26-year-old to take a step back after he started coughing.
Phillips shouted back: “I don’t have coronavirus, I’ve been smoking cannabis.”
Perth Sheriff Court heard staff at the store asked Phillips to calm down.
However, this enraged him further and he began kicking shelves, scattering Easter Eggs across the floor.
He then climbed over the counter and stood face-to-face with an employee, fiscal depute Nicole Lewis said.
“He began shouting that he would burn down the shop,” she said.
“He told the employee that if he didn’t blink he was ‘getting it’ and said that the employee was nothing to him.”
Ms Lewis said: “At this point, it was noted that the accused was bleeding from the hand.
“The employee offered him some help and that seemed to calm him down.”
He left the shop, passing another worker who was on the phone to police.
“The accused asked if he was calling police,” Ms Lewis said.
“He then said that he ‘didn’t care and he ‘would just go through them as well’.
‘I will kill your entire generation’
Phillips appeared via video link at Perth Sheriff Court, having previously admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the store on March 21, 2020.
He further admitted a separate disturbance on April 4, 2020.
The court heard a resident in Perth’s Drummond Crescent called the police when they saw Phillips arguing with his then-partner.
He told her, “I will rape your granny” and then added, “I will kill your entire generation.”
Ms Lewis said officers traced Phillips, who appeared to be under the influence.
He called police “piggy b******s” and said: “I’ll give you a black eye.”
In the back of the police van, en route to Dundee HQ, Phillips banged his head on the doors and windows.
He shouted to officers: “I know where you and your family live and they’re going to get burned.”
He also threatened to “stab and cut the faces off police officers”.
‘His own worst enemy’
Phillips, of Stanley Court, Perth, also admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner at Perth police station on October 27.
The court heard he was restrained after he tried to flip over tables.
Solicitor Billy Somerville said: “He has underlying difficulties with drink and drugs.
“They turn him into someone that those close to him do not recognise.”
Mr Somerville added: “He is very remorseful.
“He knows he is his own worst enemy.”
Sheriff Francis Gill told Phillips: “I don’t need to tell you that your behaviour has been entirely unacceptable.
“However, I have decided with some hesitation not to deal with this with a custodial sentence.”
Phillips was placed on probation for 18 months and will be sentenced for the offence at RS McColl’s on December 15.
