A callous thug threatened to slit a puppy’s throat before picking up the defenceless animal and hurling it across the room.
Ross Cossans, 26, formerly of Tullis Place, Aberdeen, was jailed for two years after admitting acting in a threatening manner during the incident at his grandmother’s house on the Seagate in Montrose.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the drug addict turned up unannounced at her home on November 12, having not seen her for more than three months.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Gilmartin told the court Cossans had become aggressive after arguing on the phone with his partner.
She said: “Some time later, he appeared with two knives from the kitchen and attempted to place one of the blades to his neck.
“His grandmother became increasingly frightened that he would slit his throat and she would have to watch.”
She said Cossans then turned his attention to his puppy, a seven-month-old bulldog named Pablo.
He threatened to slit the animal’s throat before picking it up by the neck and throwing it across the room.
His grandmother said although the dog was uninjured, it was “fearful and shaken”.
Ms Gilmartin told the court the grandmother managed to put one of the knives back in the kitchen but noticed the other was still under Cossans’ jumper.
She said he then demanded £300.
Ms Gilmartin added: “The complainer said she was worried about what he would do to himself and so ordered a taxi for them both.
“The accused ordered her to enter the bank and she returned to give him the money.
“She later called her son to tell him what had happened and he called the police, who arrested and charged the accused.”
Cossans later spat in the face of a custody officer before appearing at Forfar Sheriff Court on December 3.
Cossans solicitor said his client suffers with PTSD.
He said: “I would suggest everything that could go wrong was going wrong and all this was with an undercurrent of drug abuse.
“His grandmother, who was reluctant to give him the money at the time, has since said that she accompanied him to buy a mobile phone and he returned to Aberdeen.”
Cossans pled guilty to two charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and one charge of assault. Sheriff Thomas Hughes sentenced him to two years in prison.
