A raging neighbour attacked his Fife rival with garden shears after he cut his home CCTV cable.
Jamie Mathewson claimed clothes and a TV had been stolen from his Methil home and that the neighbour had tipped off the perpetrators by using his camera to check the property was unoccupied.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard Mathewson went round to cut the camera cable before a scuffle broke out and he tried to close the shears on his victim’s hand.
Mathewson, 35, appeared in court by video link to prison to plead guilty to the February 18 assault and wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging the CCTV at Glenfield Court.
Scuffle over shears
Prosecutor Sarah Smith told the court the neighbour had been looking out his kitchen window and saw Mathewson approaching with the shears.
Mathewson rang his doorbell and asked him to “come out” and said he was not annoyed but the neighbour declined.
Mathewson then went to the man’s CCTV camera and threatened to cut the cable.
The neighbour said he would “jump on his head” if he did.
He cut the cable and punched the owner to the right cheek when he came out.
The fiscal depute said the neighbour pushed Mathewson away but he tried to strike him with the open shears.
“He (the neighbour) put his hands out to protect himself and in doing so grabbed both blades.
“During the struggle the accused was trying to close the shears, resulting in an injury to (the man’s) hand”.
In the scuffle, the neighbour managed to throw the shears on to the street outside.
Break-in claims
Mathewson was arrested on March 11 and said: “I don’t appreciate people selling drugs and cameras pointing at my door and this individual gave some people tools to break into my property to steal my TV, my kettle and clothing.”
Defence lawyer David Bell said Mathewson had been living at another address in Glenfield Court and was distressed to find he had been broken into and a TV and clothing taken.
He said his client was told by one of the perpetrators the neighbour had been watching his address, waiting for it to be unoccupied before equipping those who carried out the break-in.
He meant only to cut the cable with the shears and was under the influence of Valium or diazepam at the time.
He said Mathewson – already serving a 16-month sentence – has a record primarily for crimes of theft linked to long-term drug dependency and had not been violent in the past.
The court heard Mathewson is already serving a 16-month prison sentence.
Sentencing
Sheriff Krista Johnston told Mathewson: “You’re old enough to know better.
“You have a very, very long record and have been in jail many times and the vast majority of offending is, of course, dishonesty.
“I take into account this incident does appear to have been planned for a very short time and the most serious violence aspect seems to have been spontaneous”.
His 10-month sentence will run consecutively to the current one.
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