Inverness Sheriff Court hears offender spat on police officer after claiming to have tested positive for coronavirus Covid-19
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Police were originally called to a house in the Hilton area of Inverness by the ambulance service because a woman needed medical attention.
But when they arrived at the scene officers were confronted by a drunk man acting aggressively and had to call in further reinforcements to deal with 35-year-old Lee Dyce in Oldtown Road on August 14 last year.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard the officers had been told there was also a positive Covid case at the address, from which they could hear loud screaming.
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood told the court: “Dyce came out and said he had tested positive for Covid.
“He pushed one officer in the chest and then went back into the property.”
Ms Eastwood told Sheriff Sara Matheson that Dyce then returned with a knife.
After officers retreated and told him to put the blade down he went back inside the property before coming out again without the knife.
“He was arrested and cuffed and taken to Raigmore Hospital to be checked because of his state of intoxication and was taken into a cubicle where he continued to act aggressively,” Ms Matheson said.
Ms Eastwood added that Dyce spat on the floor and then on the forehead of an officer before a spit hood could be applied.
Dyce, of Telford Road, Inverness, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, being in possession of a knife and acting in a culpable and reckless manner by spitting on the floor and assaulting a police officer by spitting on him.
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson asked the court to call for a background report before sentencing, adding that his client had realised “it was time to turn his life around.”
Mr Dickson went on: “He has taken advantage of services in the prison. Alcohol has been a problem for him from an early age and at one time he was described as Scotland’s youngest alcoholic.”
Mr Dickson asked for his client to be released on bail, but Sheriff Matheson declined saying he should be remanded due to the nature of his offending and “likely disposal.”
She agreed to call for a report and is due to sentence Dyce on January 31.
