Inverness man acquitted of threatening behaviour with a knife in row with teenagers

A man who was accused of having a knife after a 'road rage' type incident was today acquitted by a jury's majority.

But 30 year old father of two Daniel Kelly, formerly of Smithton Park, Inverness and now living in Scott Terrace, Dalmally, 19 miles from Oban, was fined a total of £480 on drugs charges and a failure to appear for a court hearing.

Two teenage boys told Inverness Sheriff Court that they had just returned from a cadet camp.

One boy's father had picked the pair up and was returning his son's friend home to Smithton when the dad became embroiled in a road rage incident at the Raigmore interchange on February 10, 2019.

The court heard Kelly was a passenger in the other vehicle being driven by a woman and they followed the father to the Spar car park in Barn Church Road.

The row continued there and both boys said Kelly had produced a knife as he was half sitting in his vehicle.

After being arrested two days later, Kelly had small amounts of drugs in his possession when he was routinely searched at Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness.

In his evidence, Kelly denied he had a knife but accepted he had made comments and swore at one of the boys.

Kelly denied possession of a knife, failing to appear for an October court date and threatening behaviour by brandishing a knife and making threats towards the two teenagers. He admitted possession of heroin and a Class C drug called Buprenorphine when he was arrested and searched in Burnett Road Police Station two days after the alleged incident.

At the end of the prosecution case, fiscal depute Alex Swain told Sheriff Sara Matheson that she was not seeking a conviction on the threatening behaviour charge.

Defence solicitor Lauren Aitchison said her client was no longer abusing drugs.

CCTV footage played in court showed the dispute but a knife could not be seen.

The boys denied they were exaggerating the incident and said they were "positive" Kelly had a knife.