A man has been jailed after he attacked police officers “like a rabid animal”.
Andrew Herd attempted to bite cops who responded to reports of a disturbance at his former partner’s home in Glenrothes.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard how the 32-year-old had fallen flat on his face while attempting to rugby tackle the officers.
Fiscal depute Zahra Bhatti told the court that Herd and his partner had split earlier that day and Herd was told to leave the property.
She said: “At about 7.20pm the witness was within her home address and the accused turned up at the front door and tried to get in using a key he had.
“He was unable to gain access. She then heard the accused shouting: ‘Open the f***ing door’.
“She refused to open the door and told the accused to come back when he was sober.
“He would not leave and began shouting, swearing and banging on the door.”
Hostile reception
Ms Bhatti said at this point Herd’s ex called the police, who arrived within five minutes.
She continued: “They saw the accused at the front door, shouting something through the letterbox.
“They removed the accused from the garden and it was clear that he was under the influence of drink or drugs. He immediately became hostile.”
Ms Bhatti said Herd had shouted for the woman, demanding his belongings.
She continued: “The accused shouted ‘f*** it’ and clenched his fists. He then tried to rugby tackle the officers.
“The officers managed to move out of the way and the accused fell face first on to the ground.
“The officers restrained the accused on the ground and managed to apply one cuff before the accused attempted to bite one of the officers.”
‘Significant’ issues
In a separate incident the following morning a drunken Herd had attended at the home of a friend’s parents.
After passing out on their couch he woke and became aggressive before passing out again.
Solicitor Christine Hagen said Herd had “significant” problems with drink and had been intoxicated at the time of both incidents.
She asked that the sheriff consider imposing a community payback order.
Jailing Herd, Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith noted that a social work report had uncovered a video of Herd urinating on the doorstep of the community service unit which was captioned “community service is pish”.
He said other sheriffs had previously given him second chances but that he was left with no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.
He said: “You used your body weight to try to knock police officers down and then you attempted to bit one of them like a rabid animal in a cage.”
Herd, of Stewart Street, Dysart, admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at an address in Glenrothes on January 20 2020.
He further admitted to assaulting two police officers on the same date.
Herd also admitted breaching bail the following day by attempting to contact his ex, and the behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at an address in Kirkcaldy.
He was jailed for 148 days.
