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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Paul T Smith

Thug who threatened mum and step-dad with broom and poker caged

A man who brandished a broom and a poker at his mother and step-father - and threatened to kill his stepfather - has been jailed for 11 months.

Gary Tait, 32, turned up at his mother's home in Stenhousemuir, Stirlingshire, at 11am but was "removed" from the house because she was unhappy about him being apparently under the influence of drugs.

Falkirk Sheriff Court was told he returned a couple of hours later and "became aggressive", taking hold of the three-foot long broom.

Prosecutor Robbie McDougall said: "He picked it up and brandished it, holding it above his head in a threatening manner."

He asked his stepfather Grant McDonald to "go to the park for a square go" and picked up a poker, which was used to tend the coal fire in the house, and held it above his head threateningly.

Mr McDonald, 56, removed the poker from him but he picked it up again.

Mr McDougall said: "The accused then stated he would kill the witness McDonald."

Mr McDonald and the accused's mother, Frances Tait, 54, were "frightened by this", Mr McDougall said.

Eventually Mr McDonald and Miss Tait managed to get Tait out of the house and locked the door after him.

He was later arrested, cautioned and charged, and made no reply.

Tait, of Stenhousemuir, Stirlinghshire, pleaded guilty to statutory breach of the peace. The incident occurred on November 28th last year (2021).

He also admitted a charge of dangerous driving, which arose from a separate incident after he lost control of and crashed a 2005 Honda Civic while driving "at speed and heavily intoxicated" through Larbert, also Stirlingshire, around 11pm on July 30th last year (2021).

Mr McDougall, the depute fiscal, said an empty bottle of vodka was recovered from the footwell of the car, while two males whom Tait had been giving a lift to got out after the crash and ran off.

Solicitor-advocate Martin Morrow said: "Miss Tait and Mr McDonald are good people, they are concerned for Mr Tait's well-being, and they know he has struggled for a long time with his mental health."

As well as imposing the jail term, Sheriff Christopher Shead also disqualified Tait from driving for three months.

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