A man who threatened to firebomb a popular Forfar pub and kill the staff there was jailed for five months.
Michael Smith said he would leave police to “bury the bodies” of Osnaburg Bar employees after a row with a fellow drinker escalated out of control and led to the 32-year-old assaulting the pub landlady as she tried to get him off the premises.
Smith’s lawyer said his client was “disgusted” by what he had done.
Sheriff Kevin Veal told the 32-year-old custody was inevitable after describing the accused as a “serious risk to the public when he is drinking”.
Appearing on remand, Smith, of Goosecroft, Forfar, admitted assaulting licensee Karen Kennedy at the premises on Osnaburg Street on February 10, behaving in a disorderly manner and challenging others to fight and, in a police vehicle en route to Dundee, behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.
Depute fiscal Saima Rasheed said Smith has been drinking with friends when he became abusive towards another patron.
“The licensee asked him to leave, but he ignored her,” the fiscal said.
“She tried to usher him towards the door, but he again ignored her, pushed the door back into the licensee, pushed her on the chest and tried to shoulder past her.”
Police were contacted and it was on the way to Dundee that Smith made a series of threats. He said he would “slit the throats” of staff and petrol bomb the pub, with officers having “to bury their bodies”.
Defence agent Keith McKinnon said: “Since his release from his last sentence on July 6 he has been abstinent from alcohol.
“He was subject to a community order which finished in December and has been somewhat lost since then.”
The solicitor told the court the first person Smith abused was known to him, and there had been historical difficulties.
“The argument kicked off and led to matters escalating,” he added.
“I spoke to him when he appeared from custody and his was devastated by what he had done.
“He is disgusted at his behaviour, especially with regard to the threats made to the police officers. There was no intent they were idle threats.”
Mr McKinnon added: “He had too much to drink that evening and knowing, with his record, the consequences of the police becoming involved, he simply lost control of his emotions. He fully accepts and acknowledges he has a problem with alcohol.
“He is someone who would benefit from a further period of supervision, and reports indicate a custodial sentence would have a negative effect on him.
“The pub is a member of PubWatch and he will be banned from every licensed premises in Forfar as a result.”
Sheriff Veal said: “I regard this as a serious matter and the threats he made were appalling.
“In situations such as this, the question of the rehabilitation of the accused is important, but there is also the question of public protection and, on any view, the accused is a serious risk to the public when he is drinking.
“Within the confines of a public bar, what begins as a small matter can rapidly escalate and licensees should be able to run their businesses without being subjected to this sort of behaviour.
“The accused has 14 previous appearances and the unexpired portion of a previous sentence came to an end in October, but within a short time he reoffended.”