The victim of an assault turned the tables on his drunken attacker and handcuffed him before police could arrive.
Fuelled by alcohol and enraged by a perceived lack of access to his 12-year-old son, Alan Venters burst into the house owned by ex-wife Carol and her new husband Alan Herd.
Punching Mr Herd on the face, he then jumped on top of him and bore him to the ground where they began to struggle in full view of the terrified youngster.
Little did Venters know, however, that Mr Herd owned a collection of police and military memorabilia which was to prove vital in bringing the attack to an end.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that he first used a Wellington boot and then a truncheon to ward-off his attacker.
He was finally able to subdue the drunken Venters after grabbing a pair of handcuffs from his collection, restraining him until police officers arrived at the couple’s home in Glenfarg, Perthshire.
Solicitor Cliff Culley said his client a plumber had just finished nightshift work at a Fife shipyard and had taken a few drinks.
“He’d made a telephone call to ask for greater contact with his son, but had found Mr Herd patronising and dismissive of his wishes,” the agent said.
“Having taken a few drinks, he unwisely jumped in a taxi and went to the address.
“He accepts that he should not have acted in the way he did and certainly not in front of his son.”
Venters, 51, had initially verbally abused his ex-wife and her new husband and had challenged Mr Herd to a fight, before pushing his way past his distressed son, who’d attempted to keep him out of the house.
The accused, of High Street in Cowdenbeath, admitted conducting himself in a disorderly manner and assaulting Mr Herd to his injury in Glenfarg, on April 10.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher deferred sentence on Venters until August 6 and released him on bail.