Inverness Sheriff Court hears local man kicked and spat at police

A POLICE officer was kicked in the face as he tried to restrain a 33-year-old Inverness man in the course of an arrest.

Inverness Sheriff Court was told two constables required assistance from another two to get Blair Cotter under control in Church Street on July 5.

It was the first time in five years that Cotter had got into trouble with the law, defence solicitor Rory Gowans told Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald, who deferred sentence on the Inverness remand prisoner until November 22 for a background report.

Mr Gowans said: “He recently was on a drug treatment and testing order and did it successfully.”

Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood said that police had been called to a disturbance outside MacCallum’s Bar in Union Street at about 9pm.

The officers were given Cotter’s name and went to look for him, before finding him in Church Street. “He walked away and was asked to stop several times before he eventually did outside Lauder’s Bar,” Mrs Eastwood said.

“He refused to cooperate and was taken to the ground. The officers required assistance and two others were quickly on the scene. But he rolled partially on to his back and kicked one in the face. Leg restraints had to be applied to stop him lashing out.”

Cotter was taken to Burnett Road Police Station where he spat several times at a custody officer but no contact was made. Cotter admitted charges of assault and culpable and reckless conduct by spitting at the officer, putting him at risk of Covid.