A neighbour-from-hell who blocked his drains and turned on taps to deliberately flood a downstairs flat in Brechin has been jailed for 36 months.
Dean Duggan, 35, stuffed toilet tissue down the overflow drains of his bath and sink and turned the taps on fully to flood his bathroom.
He turned on the shower and ripped the head off the wall to direct it onto the floor after becoming angry when neighbours reported him to police.
He also went on a wrecking spree over a course of several weeks and repeatedly smashed windows of his own flat and those belonging to others in his stairwell.
Shards of glass fell up to 30-feet to the ground and endangered members of the public after he hurled vodka bottles through tenement windows.
In one incident, the father-of-one ripped a skirting board off the wall before hurling it through a window and causing broken glass to fall to the ground.
Duggan – who started offending aged 12 and has convictions for 99 previous offences – admitted a further 18 charges at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC jailed him and imposed a 12-month supervised release order and told Duggan: “I’ve considered all the offences – and there’s an awful lot of them.
“There’s 18 in total and you will appreciate that is a considerable amount for someone like you with a long record.
“There is no alternative to custody.”
Catalogue of crimes
Duggan admitted that on March 23 last year at Nursery Park, Brechin, he maliciously blocked the overflow drains on the bath and sink with tissue paper.
He admitted turning on all the taps and flooding his bathroom, as well as causing damage to the ceiling and lighting in the flat below.
He also caused more than £1,200 worth of damage by smashing windows around his neighbourhood by hurling objects at them on various occasions.
Duggan admitted a number of police assaults, including showering PC Derek Duncan with blood droplets by kicking off a flip-flop towards him.
He also threatened to kill police officers and brandished a metal pole at another neighbour.
The catalogue of offences took place between January 4 and April 17 2021 – many while he was on bail.
Flooded flats
Fiscal depute Gavin Burton told the court: “On 22 March 2021 he was released on bail.
“At 3.35am on 23 March, police got a call from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in regards to flooding.
“A large amount of water was coming from within his flat, which in turn caused water to leak through the lights of the flat below.
“Police were initially unable to gain entry to stop the flooding.
“Eventually, the accused answered the door in a state of undress and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.
“Police discovered the overflow drains on both the bath and sink had been blocked using toilet paper.
“All the taps had been turned on full, along with the shower, which had been pulled from the wall, with the shower head directed at the floor.”
Police rage
Days before the flooding, Duggan had confronted two of his neighbours over his belief they had been responsible for him being repeatedly arrested.
He shouted: “Stop calling the police on me. I’ll do anything I want. Bitch.”
On that occasion he caused £300 worth of damage by smashing his own window.
A few days previously, Duggan – who lived at Nursery Park – had caused nearly £1,000 damage by hurling items through windows at flats in the same street.
The court was told Duggan had struggled to cope during lockdown and his erratic behaviour had been partly sparked by his misuse of alcohol and street Valium.
