A motorist used an axe to smash up a parking meter in Dundee after wardens put tickets on his car.
Hospital gardener Myles Bancroft lost the plot and attacked the parking meter in Mill Wynd, near his home, after racking up several fines.
A passer-by filmed Bancroft, 38, as he left his home swinging the axe, before using it to destroy the local authority meter.
Fiscal depute Larissa Milligan told Dundee Sheriff Court: “This is a council-owned car park.
“At around 9am the accused came out of a close in Perth Road carrying an axe.
“It was a single-head axe with a long, wooden handle.
“He was swinging it at his side and was then observed to continually strike a parking meter with the axe, causing damage to it.
“He was observed by a passer-by who started recording the incident on their telephone.
“The police were contacted and obtained the recording and identified the accused.”
Racked up tickets
Bancroft, of Perth Road, Dundee, admitted wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property by striking a parking meter with an axe.
He also admitted having an offensive weapon in Mill Wynd Car park on September 11 2023.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “Am I to assume he is someone who has repeatedly parked in the car park and has had parking tickets?”
Solicitor John Boyle, defending, said: “His address backs onto it and he uses the car park.
“He has an alcohol addiction and has been signed off work for some time.
“He is an NHS Trust gardener.
“He had been abstinent for a significant period but the week before this he relapsed and was under the influence of alcohol.
“He had received a number of parking tickets that week because he had been drinking in the house and had not tended to the parking meter.”
Mr Boyle said Bancroft, who was no present in court, had not drunk since the incident and was seeking help for his addiction.
He said his client had a number of debts to pay.
Sheriff Niven-Smith deferred sentence for reports.
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