A man who told his terminally-ill mother to “hurry up and die” before waving two knives at her and his elderly grandmother was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Sheriff Richard Davidson told Darren Airlie he was “not fit for normal society” when he sentenced him at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Airlie lost the plot at the home he shared with his mum and 72-year-old gran in Arklay Street as he tried to “get his own back” after they had failed to tell him of a family matter.
The 24-year-old, who was once jailed for breaching a bail order by sending his grandmother a Christmas card, stormed into the living room of the flat and put on loud music.
When his mother Jennifer (45) and grandmother Kathleen asked him to turn it down he refused, instead “childishly” turning the music up.
An argument followed, with Airlie hurling abuse at his mum, telling her to “hurry up and die” just weeks after she had been diagnosed with throat and lung cancer, for which she has been receiving radiotherapy.
Airlie who has 12 convictions for breaching bail then went into the kitchen and brought out two knives, one with a 10-inch blade, and told his mum the longest one was “for her”.
And when his grandmother tried to intervene he turned to her and shouted abuse.
Depute fiscal Trina Sinclair said: “Each time he was asked to turn it down he turned it up.
“This carried on throughout the morning, an argument ensued and in the course of it, he told his mother ‘the quicker you die the better’.
“He then kicked over a coffee table and upturned other furniture. His grandmother fled and the police were contacted after he pulled out the knives.”
Miss Sinclair added: “He was later granted bail on October 2 on the condition he didn’t approach or contact his mother or grandmother or go to their address.
“On that date he went to his grandmother’s address. She contacted police and he was again arrested.”
Airlie, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner on September 23 last year and breaching his bail on October 2.
Solicitor advocate Jim Laverty said: “He is mortally embarrassed about what he did that particular day and the thought of reliving and recounting it is something he is unable to do.
“What he has pled guilty to disgusts him so much that the mere mention of it causes him significant difficulty. His understanding is that his mother’s illness is terminal.”
Sheriff Davidson said: “It is difficult to find anything positive to say about you.
“It is quite clear that you terrified your grandmother and mother, who is terminally ill, and told her to hurry up and die. You threatened your mother and told her to watch her back.
“You are wasting your life. This is your 12th conviction for breaching bail conditions and the inference is that, if you are freed, you will offend again.
“Your actions were quite dehumanising and it suggests to me that you are not fit to be placed in normal society.”
In 2010 Airlie was jailed for 60 days for sending his grandmother a Christmas card. He had been banned from contacting her under a bail order but turned up on her doorstep to hand over the festive greeting.