A drunken Black Watch soldier who brandished two kitchen knives at a Dundee police officer has avoided a jail term.
John Paul Collins, who a court heard would have been kicked out of the army had he been sentenced to more than 100 hours of unpaid work, was fined £1,300.
The 23-year-old private, who is stationed in Inverness, sat with his head bowed for most of the hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday.
The court heard that officers had attended an unrelated report of housebreaking in Lorne Street when Collins, who was staying with a family in Dundee, stepped out from the side of a parked van.
He then presented two large kitchen knives before challenging police. The officers requested back-up and took out CS spray, telling Collins to put down the knives.
Realising he had confronted police officers, Collins lay face down on the ground with his arms outstretched and remained there until other units attended.
During a subsequent police interview, he said: “I want to say sorry to the officer for what I did and tell him I wouldn’t have done that.”
A sergeant who accompanied Collins to the hearing confirmed to Sheriff Alastair Brown that a sentence of more than 100 hours of unpaid work would “more than likely” result in his discharge from the army.
Kris Gilmartin, defending, said: “I would seek to impress on his lordship how important the army is to him. He has given up so much that if he loses his position in the army he will be lost.
“He is keen to resolve the matter at the earliest opportunity.”
Collins, of Fort George Barracks, Fort George, Ardersier, Inverness, admitted having two knives in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority in Lorne Street, Dundee, on January 4.
He also admitted assaulting PC Graeme Hunter then in the execution of his duty by brandishing the knives at him and challenging him to fight in Lorne Street on the same date. Sheriff Brown told him: “This is an unusual, bizarre case. It is the kind of thing that would ordinarily attract a prison sentence running into years.
“The brandishing of knives at police officers is simply intolerable. However, as soon as you realised it was the police, you backed off.
“Your employment is your life. If I deal with this in the way I am inclined, the consequences will go far beyond the sentence.
“You will lose your employment and lose contacts and this is disproportionate. The army may take steps and I hope they will.”