'I could easily send you to prison today' – sheriff tells Inverness man who threatened to kill people
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Residents of an Inverness block of flats were terrorised by a neighbour who claimed he had a knife and threatened to kill them all.
Raymond Marshall swore and shouted that he hated them all in the communal stairwell of the property in Portland Place, Inverness on the evening of November 16, 2022.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Inverness Sheriff Court that 37-year-old Marshall "wanted to stab the man upstairs, claiming he had been hit by a car".
Mr Weir said women and children were waiting outside the building and Marshall was asked to stop shouting because a child was crying.
"But he reacted angrily, saying you are lucky you are all females," Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald heard.
Mr Weir added that the shouting and threats continued with Marshall threatening to kill everyone as other neighbours emerged from their doors, saying he had a knife.
"Police were called and at 7.30pm they tried to get him out of his property. He claimed he had various weapons, including a knife and Stanley blades and he would kill the officers if they entered."
However, Marshall was arrested, Mr Weir said.
Marshall, formerly of Strathpeffer but now of Kenneth Street, Inverness, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and defence solicitor Natalie Paterson asked the sheriff to call for a background report.
"He was previously subject to a drug treatment and testing order which he completed successfully and he is now drug and alcohol free."
Sheriff Macdonald deferred sentence until February 23.
She told Marshall: "You caused significant distress to people including children, and I could easily send you to prison today. But I will call for a report to see what is going on with you and examine all options.
"This was particularly horrible and bullying. It must have been frightening for everyone."
