An “out of control” thug who launched into a sectarian rant and threatened to murder a police officer’s baby during a flare-up at Perth Royal Infirmary has been jailed.
Jack Moyes sang football chants and shouted “everyone hates Roman Catholics”.
He told one officer: “I know your mum. She’s getting raped and killed.”
Just days earlier, on Christmas Day, the 24-year-old threw a desk out of a sixth floor window and chased his downstairs neighbour with a piece of wood.
Moyes was jailed for one year when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court via videolink on Thursday.
Sheriff Linda Smith told him: “I think you recognise that there comes a time when the court has no other option but to impose a custodial sentence.
“Your behaviour over this period is a sad reflection of the upbringing you had.
“Your family has made efforts to get your life back on track.”
Collision course
Moyes had appeared on petition at Perth Sheriff Court three times in connection with as many violent outbursts.
Solicitor David Holmes said: “Things were going well for Mr Moyes.
“He had a girlfriend, he was working.
“But then he suffered a tragic event and it seems he has been unable to deal with that, to the extent that he has turned to drugs.”
Mr Holmes said his client accepted that the threats he made were “extremely offensive”.
“He knows that her ladyship must punish him for that.
“He was on a collision course. His behaviour was out of control.”
Christmas day rampage
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney said trouble began at around 3pm on Christmas Day.
A neighbour at Market Court, Perth, was preparing his Christmas dinner when he heard smashing glass from above.
Looking out, he saw a broken desk and a sofa cushion lying in a communal garden below, covered in pieces of broken glass.
“He saw the accused leaning out of a window on the sixth floor,” said Mr Sweeney.
“He shouted up to him, asking him to calm down.
“On hearing this, the accused became abusive and called him a ‘fat b*****d’.”
The court heard Moyes threatened to stab his neighbour, before throwing a child’s toy at him.
Mr Sweeney said the neighbour went downstairs.
“He noticed the block’s elevator descending from the sixth floor.
“The accused burst out of the lift, brandishing a wooden stick.”
When police arrived, they saw the neighbour barricaded behind a door.
“Moyes was shouting at the witness, while striking the door with the stick,” said Mr Sweeney.
Havoc at the hospital
Four days later, a member of the public called an ambulance for Moyes, who was spotted, visibly injured, in Perth’s Scott Street.
“He was clearly intoxicated and was unable to make any form of sense,” said Mr Sweeney.
Moyes was taken by police to PRI, where he waited for treatment in a busy waiting room.
Mr Sweeney said Moyes began to shout and swear.
He became so annoying and disruptive officers made him wait in a police van outside.
Inside the vehicle, he began singing football chants and called one officer a “fat Fenian retard b*****d.”
Mr Sweeney said: “He then said: ‘Everyone hates Roman Catholics. I f***ing hate Catholics’.”
Moyes then told one officer: “I know where your family live.
“If its the last thing I do, I’m going to kill your family.”
Rape and baby kill threats
He added: “I know your mum. She’s getting raped and killed.”
Moyes told another officer: “I will go down for murder. Trust me, you’re dead.
“When your baby is born, I will kill it.
“The second I’m out the jail, I’m coming for you. I swear to God.”
Moyes was able to remove his spit hood, and spat through a small gap at one of the officers.
He then told one officer: “Can I look you up on Facebook? If it takes me to the end of my life I will end you.
“Your mother, your parents, your brother your sister, are all f***ing dead.
“Its going to be funny when he’s got a knife sticking out of you.
“Your wife’s dead, your son’s dead, your sister’s dead, your mum’s dead.
“I’m going to stick my fingers down their throats and rip their tonsils out.”
Missiles thrown
Moyes made further threats to police and their mothers on June 15, when they turned up at his then flat in Canal Street, Perth, after concerns about his welfare.
Officers had to move behind a wall to avoid missiles, including bits of wood, being thrown at them by Moyes.
After that incident, he was assessed at Carseview mental health unit where his psychological state was described as “fit”.
