A Coatbridge man who was found with a large knife – by police he had called for help after waking up in a strange house – has been spared jail.
Despite previously serving custodial sentences for similar offences, Robert Logan will be released from prison next month having been granted a community disposal following the offence in Balloch on July 11.
He told officers he had no connections with the area, despite finding himself in a property close to Balloch train station in the middle of the night before leaving to try and get public transport.
The 38-year-old pled guilty to the offence last month and was back in the dock at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing last week.
Sheriff William Gallacher told Logan he was “troubled” by the offence but went on: “I think the circumstances are sufficiently unusual that I can look at this matter differently than previous occasions when you have had possession of various implements.
“You have in your head a glowing picture that says you can sort all this out and can get back to employment. I think you probably can.
“My anxiety is you are willing to put yourself in the situation where actually it’s easier to do something else and mayhem descends.
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“It is a close call – but on that basis, if you tell me you will agree to it, I will make you subject of a community payback order where you will be under supervision for two years.”
Logan’s lawyer said he has secured a job which he will take up once out of prison; and had previously told the court his client has mental health difficulties.
The solicitor said: “The circumstances are slightly unusual – he comes from Coatbridge and has no connection with Balloch.
“He doesn’t know how he ended up here. He woke up in a strange house and walked to the end of the street hoping to get a train or bus.
“He didn’t; it was raining, he phoned the police and volunteered himself into police custody.”
The court was previously told how Logan called police from a payphone; when they arrived, one of the officers helped him look for ID in a holdall he had on him, then discovered the blade.
Logan, whose address was given as Greenock jail, told how he had no idea how the knife had got into his bag.
His community payback order, which will begin once he is released from another sentence in early December, involves getting help for his drug addiction as well as carrying out 200 hours of unpaid work and being under supervision for two years.
