A 43-year-old man who threatened to stab police officers with an uncapped needle has been jailed for more than three years.
Kenneth Watt, a prisoner in Edinburgh, had been arrested by officers after a spate of robberies and placed in the back of a police van.
Depute fiscal Beverly Adam told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Watt warned officers he had uncapped needles hidden on him but refused to reveal where. He then said they were lucky he had not stabbed them in the eye with it.
Ms Adam added: “The accused brandished the uncapped needle and said he would stab anyone.”
Solicitor Martin McGuire said his client, who had first become involved with Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court aged 15, committed the robberies to fund his drug habit. He added that when Watt was in the police van, he was behind Perspex glass that protected the officers from any harm.
Appearing on Tuesday, Watt admitted that on December 17 last year, at Cotburn Crescent, Burntisland, he stole a laptop from a vehicle, and that on July 28 he broke into a flat at Mid Street in Kirkcaldy, where he stole a flatscreen TV, laptop computer, two passports, jewellery and £500.
He also pled guilty to, on January 3, at Kinghorn Road, Burntisland, uttering threats of violence and brandishing an uncapped syringe. Sheriff James Williamson jailed him for 40 months.