A MAN who was admonished for brandishing a knife at a group of rioting youths has spoken of the “constant abuse” he received in the run-up to the incident.
Matthew McLaughlan, 31, admitted at Dundee Sheriff Court that he had brandished the knife but said he had done so in defence of his pregnant sister, with Sheriff Alastair Brown admonishing him.
Mr McLaughlan today told the Tele that the incident had seriously affected his family, including his sister, Nicole Collins, and her daughter Alicia, who Nicole was pregnant with at the time of the knife incident, which happened on Malcolm Street.
He said: “Me, my brother, my cousin and my sister have all moved house from around about the area because of this.
“The youths were all drunk and out of their faces on drugs so it was lucky it happened the way it did. There was about 30 of them going mental.
“My sister had to go to the midwife not long after the hassle with the knife and it looks like it’s damaged the baby.
“She’s in Ninewells at the moment. The consultant thinks there’s a link with the baby’s issues and what happened in the close. She has to be fed through a tube.
“She’s just trying to get on with things as best she can. We were all just glad to get the court case over with.
“I’ve got nothing to say to the kids who were involved, my sister’s kid’s more important.”
Siobhan McLaughlan, Matthew and Nicole’s other sister, said the incident had left her mother almost housebound out of fear of reprisal.
She said: “My mum had to move through fear. In the eyes of the people who were involved in the fight, they’ll see the result of the case as my brother getting away with it.
Because of that she’s almost never leaving the house, although she did move house since the fight happened.
“She’s even thinking about moving back to Eastbourne, where I live.
“She’s terrified there’s going to be some sort of payback. My brother did what he did to protect his family.”
Discussing baby Alicia, who was born in October, Siobhan said: “The consultant asked my sister if she had been bumped during pregnancy and she said ‘no’, but then my mum reminded her she had, during the fight.
“We’re waiting on some answers.
“She has a meeting with doctors on Friday.
“Whether it’s something like epilepsy or she needs major surgery, it’s a huge worry for us.”
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