Inverness workmen frightened by man with crossbow
Workmen who dug a ditch in front of a man's driveway without informing him and blocked his car were then confronted by the homeowner pointing a crossbow in their direction.
They filmed the frightening incident which occurred on the afternoon of March 5, 2022 in Tomnahurich Street, Inverness and the footage was shown to Sheriff Robert Frazer, who was perturbed by it.
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Inverness Sheriff Court heard that the police were called, seized two crossbows from 46-year-old handyman Marcin Sitarz and arrested him.
Sitarz admitted a breach of the peace but his lawyer, John MacColl, told the court that there was a context to his client's behaviour.
He said: "Workmen arrived at the street and without having the courtesy to tell my client that they were going to dig a ditch in front of his driveway, they just went ahead and did it, blocking his car in the process.
"He was playing with the crossbow, firing it at a target in his garden at the time, and he went out to the street to speak to them. But he went back into his property and stood at his fence and displayed the crossbow.
"There was no malicious intent and to a degree it was a spontaneous act."
Sheriff Frazer told Mr MacColl: "The footage was very concerning indeed. I am going to defer for a background report."
Sitarz had sentence deferred until May 6 and fiscal depute Shay Traynor's motion to have the two crossbows forfeited was continued by the sheriff until that date.
