A man who lost the rag in a Perth supermarket has been locked up for almost a year after failing to comply with his latest court order.
Ross McFarlane was placed on a 7pm to 7am curfew for six months after admitting acting abusively at the Aldi on Perth’s Glasgow Road.
Serial offender McFarlane was subject to five separate bail orders at the time of the disturbance.
However, he returned to Perth Sheriff Court this week to admit a breach.
His restriction of liberty order was revoked and a 10-month prison sentence was imposed in its place.
Back in court
At a previous hearing, McFarlane admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner at Aldi on June 3 last year.
He repeatedly returned to the store despite being requested to leave by police.
He adopted an aggressive attitude towards a man and shouted and swore at him.
The offence was committed while McFarlane was subject to five bail orders, all from earlier in 2022.
He was ordered to adhere to an overnight curfew for six months but this week admitted breaching that order.
McFarlane attended at court prepared for prison, with a bag of belongings.
Solicitor David Holmes explained his client, who is a beggar, had the greatest success in obtaining money in the evenings.
He said: “Mr McFarlane explains to me he’s found it difficult to operate at times.
“His means of obtaining money is to be outside between 7pm and 9 or 10pm.
“That is in short why he finds it difficult to operate.
“He can’t seem to obtain the type of detox that might work for him.”
Sheriff Gillian Wade jailed McFarlane, whose address is listed as the Skinnergate hostel in Perth, for 10 months.
She told the 25-year-old: “I’m really not seeing that there is a realistic alternative.
“I think everything that has been available to me has already been tried.”
Serial lockdown flouter
McFarlane spent 10 days in prison after repeatedly breaching lockdown restrictions.
Dundee Sheriff Court previously heard McFarlane has been stopped and quizzed by officers seven times between April 7 and May 10 in 2020.
He has been caught breaking rules by being outdoors without a legitimate reason and has been breaking social distance guidelines by approaching people and demanding money.
As a teenager, McFarlane landed in the dock after buying alcohol for a 12-year-old child.
The child was rushed to hospital after McFarlane had bought him and his friends a bottle of Buckfast and two bottles of MD 2020.
During a bungled attempt to flee Perth Sheriff Court, he bit a female G4S officer.
For both incidents, he was sentenced to 20 months behind bars.
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