An Angus man who bragged about doing a convincing “Pakistani accent” during a threatening telephone call has been sentenced to 75 hours of unpaid work.
Connor McManus, 25, of High Street, Brechin, appeared before Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown at Forfar Sheriff Court charged with wasting police time.
The court heard McManus had let a witness take the blame for making a telephone call to his former partner, which resulted in the witness making a court appearance charged with communication offences.
The call had been made by McManus.
Depute fiscal Jill Drummond told the court the witness appeared in court in February 2017 charged with making the call.
The caller shouted and swore at the woman and threatened to “bomb her house.”
She told the court: “The caller was putting on a Pakistani accent. The accused attended court and tendered a not guilty plea.”
The accused in the first court appearance had asked McManus why he was making him take the blame.
McManus had “openly bragged” he was an expert at putting on accents, including Pakistani.
The admission had been recorded on a mobile phone and the recording was taken to a solicitor.
The depute fiscal continued: “The recording was then lodged with the Procurator Fiscal in Forfar who confirmed it was the accused. The proceedings were cancelled against the witness.”
Because the initial charge was a domestic matter, a lot of court time had been taken up investigating the case.
Defence solicitor Sarah Russo said her client realised it had been “an act of utter stupidity.”
She said: “He was worried about the consequences after he made the call and apologises for his actions.”
McManus pleaded guilty at an intermediate diet on April 17 to the charge that, on March 30 2017 at Nursery Park Brechin, he made false representations to Police Scotland, wasted police time saying an offence had been carried out by another, wasted police time in the investigation, temporarily deprived the public of police service and rendered another liable to suspicion and accusation of committing offences who was charged and faced prosecution at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Martin-Brown noted McManus had accepted he was responsible for his actions and had tendered a guilty plea at the intermediate diet.
She sentenced him to a community payback order for unpaid work of 75 hours to be completed within nine months.
