Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Man cleared of police murder bid during violent St Andrews stand-off

Freeborn Court, St Andrews
Freeborn Court, St Andrews

A psychiatric patient has been cleared of attempting to murder a police officer during a violent confrontation in St Andrews.

James Smith was accused of fighting with nine officers while armed with knives and a baseball bat in the town’s Freeborn Court.

The 46-year-old faced allegations of trying to murder PC Stefan Alexander by repeatedly stabbing him during the December 2020 attack.

On Friday, Smith appeared at the High Court in Glasgow via videolink from the Radernie low secure forensic unit at Stratheden Hospital and denied attempted murder and six other charges related to the same incident.

Stratheden Hospital, Cupar

He was acquitted of all charges after prosecutors accepted a special defence submitted by his counsel Iain Paterson, stating Smith has a long-standing mental health disorder.

An interim order was put in place to ensure Smith continues his treatment in hospital.

His case will be reviewed again at the end of August.

Mental health difficulties

Police were called to Freeborn Court, off Abbey Park Avenue, just before 2pm on December 8, following reports by medical staff of a man experiencing mental health difficulties.

It was alleged Smith shouted, swore and uttered threats of violence, before running towards officers while brandishing knives and a baseball bat.

Prosecutors claimed Smith struggled with them and barricaded himself inside the property.

Smith was accused of attacking four police officers, and struggling with five others.

It was alleged he attempted to strike PC Michael Lewis with the bat, struggled with him and caused him to fall to the ground to his injury.

It was claimed Smith also assaulted PC Gary Pirie by seizing hold of his body and pushing him to the ground.

Smith was further charged with resisting, obstructing or hindering constables Stefan Alexander and Nikk Smith, struggling violently with them and repeatedly lashing out with the knife.

He was accused of striking PC Smith with the knife on the body.

And it was alleged he struggled violently, lashed out and attempted to break free from a further five officers.

Specially-trained police deployed a taser to bring the situation under control.

Internal investigation

During the brief virtual court hearing, Mr Paterson said his client was fit to instruct solicitors and able to go to trial.

Advocate depute Euan Cameron confirmed the Crown had accepted the special defence.

Lady Stacy told Smith: “I’ve read the medical reports and I am acquitting you of the charges in the indictment.

“I will make an interim compulsion order, which means you will stay in hospital where you are being taken care of.”

A report on the use of the taser was submitted to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).

Rise in police assaults

The acquittal came as new stats showed a rise in police assaults in Fife.

Murdo Fraser MSP.
Murdo Fraser MSP.

In the last financial year there were 352 recorded assaults on police across the region, compared to 341 in the previous year.

Murdo Fraser, Tory MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife said: “These figures are absolutely shocking.

“Police officers should not have to put up with being assaulted by some people while carrying out their duties.

“There seems to be a trend that has set in where we see many of our emergency services subjected to this kind of appalling behaviour and it must be called out.”