Drunken Airdrie pest’s abuse lands him another jail term

Sep 3 2008 by Our Correspondent, Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

A SERIAL offender who was out of jail less than a fortnight when he shouted drunken abuse at paramedics, has found himself behind bars again.

Airdrie man John Watson (34) has 43 previous convictions for breach of the peace and had been released from Barlinnie on licence for just 10 days before he swore at and threatened ambulance staff.

Watson, of Northburn Avenue, had called an ambulance because he felt unwell but when medical staff were attending to him, in his drunken state, he mistook a paramedic’s car for a police car and began shouting and swearing.

Procurator fiscal Gordon Crawford told Airdrie Sheriff Court last Wednesday: “This was a misunderstanding on the accused’s part.

“At around 12.40am, he called an ambulance because he was feeling unwell.

“When the ambulance arrived, they found him to be well under the influence of alcohol and carried out various checks.

“Medical staff offered to take him to hospital but he said he didn’t want to go.

“At this point he saw a further ambulance car and in his drunken state, thought it was a police car. He took umbrage in that he thought they had called the police.

“He began shouting phrases such as ‘what the f*** are the police doing here?’, ‘I’m going to f****** kill you’ and ‘I’m going to break your jaw’.

“When the police actually arrived, he was arrested.”

But Watson’s solicitor explained that a combination of mental health issues and a drink problem had, for a long time, resulted in him “going round in a circle between here and Barlinnie.”

The solicitor added: “He quite frankly makes a pest of himself. But I would invite your Lordship to take the brave step of selecting an alternative sentence to prison on the strict understanding that if he did not comply he would go to jail for the maximum term.

“He is now in a position of trust now in that he is a carer for his mother-in-law and I believe this cycle could be broken if given the right support.”

But Sheriff Alf Vannet was not convinced. He said: “Had it not been for the fact that you were out on licence 10 days before you committed this offence, I might have been persuaded to seek an alternative, Mr Watson.

“But there is great public concern about this type of offence and if I have counted correctly, you have 43 previous convictions for breach of the peace.”

After pleading guilty to the offence on August 9, Watson was sentenced to a total of eight months in jail including three months of his previous unexpired sentence.