Homeless Inverness man spat at police officers after being found with knife in Bught Park
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Two police officers were repeatedly spat at by a 28-year-old homeless Inverness man after they tried to find his uncle’s home.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that Marcus Capp committed two offences in two weeks in the Bught Park area of Inverness where he claimed his relative stayed.
The first was on November 19, 2021 when police were called to the football pitches after a report of a man acting suspiciously.
Capp was approaching members of the public to ask them for money, Sheriff Sara Matheson was told.
He was sitting on a bench and insisted to officers that he had done nothing wrong.
However, after a radio check, Capp was arrested on another matter and was routinely searched.
A knife with a three-inch long blade was found in his pocket.
A fortnight later on December 1, 2021, staff at the Aldi supermarket alerted police to Capp being drunk and confused in the store.
The court heard Capp, who said his uncle lived in Torvean Avenue, was offered a lift there by the officers who could not find it.
Once again, Capp was arrested on another matter and as he was being escorted to the police van, he attempted to spit on two constables several times but missed.
A spit hood was applied.
Capp admitted possessing the knife in a public place without reasonable excuse and assault.
His solicitor Clare Russell told the court: “He was self-medicating his mental health issues with alcohol and illicit substances.
“He was homeless at the time and sleeping rough and had the knife to open tins of food.”
The lawyer said her client had spent 198 days on remand and Sheriff Matheson jailed Capp for 13 months backdated to December 2.
The sentence meant that Capp, of no fixed abode, would be released immediately.