Shamed MP Eric Joyce, who was fined for headbutting a Tory MP in the House of Commons, has admitted being involved in scores of brawls since he was a teenager.
In a candid interview the former Perth Academy and Perth High pupil acknowledged he might need help with his penchant for violence, and was ”chatting to folk about anger management.”
Mr Joyce (51), who started falling foul of the authorities as a teenager, said he had been in around 100 fights, most of them at university where he worked as a nightclub bouncer.
The MP for Falkirk used the interview as a platform to explain the actions that saw him locked up overnight and subsequently fined £3,000, ordered to pay £1,400 compensation and given 12 months of community service.
Forced to resign from the Labour Party and apologise to Parliament, Mr Joyce also found himself banned from entering any pub for three months and an 8pm-4am weekend curfew imposed.
The former army major said the Commons fight started when some MPs took exception to his companion singing music from The Barber of Seville. An argument ensued and people tried to restrain Mr Joyce.
”There were lots of faces they were just presenting targets, so once I had started I finished,” he said. ”They kept their heads close to me, which is never a good idea. They were trying ineffectively to restrain me, which is not a good idea either.”
Mr Joyce also recounted a series of incidents of violence he has been involved in, and claimed he has never come off worst in any fight.
Perhaps more amazingly for a serving MP although he has said he will stand down at the next election Mr Joyce admits to a life of crime as a youngster.
While at school he lifted up a female teacher and carried her out of the class. He also admits to more serious indiscretions as a youth, including car theft.
”When I was stealing cars in the 70s, you had a key that would fit every car,” he said. ”You’d wear it down, try again and it clicked.
”All that hot-wiring you see on the telly is nonsense. You just used a bunch of keys. We would race them like maniacs.”
His career has been one of ups and downs. In 2010 he was arrested for failing to provide a breath test, was fined and banned from driving and had to resign from his position as shadow Northern Ireland minister. He has also admitted to having had a problem with drinking in the past.
After school in Perth in 1978 he joined The Black Watch as a private before going on to further education at Perth Technical College and Stirling University.
In 1987 he attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, before joining the Royal Army Educational Corps.
He left the army with the rank of major and in 2000 was elected in a byelection to succeed Dennis Canavan as MP for Falkirk West. Five years later he was elected to the enlarged Falkirk constituency.
What course his colourful career will now take is uncertain, though those who know him are not writing him off yet.
”Eric is obviously intelligent and talented. He did not become a major or MP without some ability,” said one person who knew him from his school days.
Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire