A man involved in the horrific homophobic killing of a Perth council worker has been told he faces a custodial sentence after threatening to blow up a flat, set himself on fire and murder police officers.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how armed officers, police negotiators and firefighters arrived en masse at a flat in Alyth when Alexander Kindred .
The court was told Kindred had travelled from Perth to meet a woman for a drink in the town earlier that evening after they connected through the dating ‘app’ Tinder.
The evening spiralled into chaos when he told her he once killed a man and then grabbed a kitchen knife in her flat.
As a 15-year-old in 2007, Kindred was involved in the death of council worker James Kerr. After assaulting him on the South Inch, he phoned two friends who later beat the man to death in the park.
On Wednesday, depute fiscal Carol Whyte said Kindred and the woman met at around 8.30pm in Alyth and went out for a drink. Mrs Whyte said two of the woman’s family arrived about an hour later to check on her and became concerned by Kindred’s “strange” behaviour.
“The accused and the woman left the pub at 11pm and Kindred told her he had once killed a man,” Mrs Whyte said.
“The woman told him she couldn’t help him deal with that.”
The court heard how the pair were later at the woman’s flat when Kindred appeared with a knife and began brandishing it, telling the woman, ‘you don’t know what I’m capable of.’
“The woman managed to persuade the accused to put the knife back in the knife block in the kitchen but told him she didn’t want to see him again,” Mrs Whyte added.
“She told him she had to go to the toilet and managed to flee from the flat. Her sister had Googled the accused and tried phoned her to warn her about him.”
The court heard how police were contacted and arrived at the scene just before 1am, and Kindred told them he would kill them as he had a shotgun and a crossbow.
“The accused told police he would blow up the flat and set himself on fire if officers tried to come in,” Mrs Whyte said.
“He told the police, ‘I’m going to take three of you out. I am a taxpaying citizen – I will take you out.”
Armed officers arrived with a police negotiator and firefighters. Kindred could be heard smashing thing up in the flat but they eventually persuaded him to give himself up.
Kindred, whose address was given as Perth Prison, admitted that between April 13 and 14 at an address in Alyth, he brandished a knife, uttered threats of violence, threw household items around the flat causing damage, threatened to blow up the building and set himself on fire and repeatedly told police that he would kill them.
Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence until August 13 for background reports and he was remanded in custody.
He said: “Custody is at the forefront of my mind.”
