Nairn man told to forfeit police-style extending baton
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A 20-year-old Nairn man used a police-style extending baton in two separate incidents in his home town and Inverness over the last two years.
But William Williamson's days of having the illegal weapon came to an end when Sheriff Gary Aitken forfeited it.
Williamson, of Anne Crescent, appeared before him at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a charge of threatening behaviour and another of assault.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that on July 25, 2022, Williamson threatened a taxi driver with it after a dispute over the fare to take him from Holm Dell Road in Inverness to Nairn.
The court heard that the driver wanted payment up front but Williamson refused, left the car and kicked the cab door.
"The driver phoned the police and Williamson lunged towards him with the baton," Ms Hood said.
The prosecutor then told the court about the second offence at the Gulf Petrol Station in Nairn on February 7 last year.
He approached another man with whom he had a previous altercation and swung the baton at him several times.
Defence solicitor David Patterson said: "He appears to have matured drastically since then.
"There has been no further offending. But there was no excuse for these offences. He was drinking and mixing with negative influences at the time.
"He has a more positive outlook on life now."
Ordering Williamson to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and placing him under a year's social work supervision, the sheriff said: "Mr Patterson tells me that the penny has dropped and you are going to sort your life out. That had better be true."
