A Coupar Angus man found stumbling drunk in the street with a kitchen knife in his hand walked free from court.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that William Williamson was almost insensible when he was approached on November 8 last year.
Williamson, of Kings Road, admitted having the knife in a public place.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said he had thought “long and hard” about how to deal with the matter, given the circumstances and Williamson’s background, which includes mental illness and a “significant record of offences including assault, breach of the peace and possession of a knife”.
He continued: “On this occasion you had drunk a couple of bottles of Buckfast in your home and have told social workers that you were ‘feeling angry’. You grabbed a kitchen knife with a four inch blade. We don’t know why and we don’t know what you intended to do.”
“That comes against a history of mental illness and treatment, during which you have told medical staff that you have suffered from paranoia and auditory illusions telling you to kill people.”
The sheriff said he was concerned that Williamson had failed to take advantage of the medical aid that had been offered to him and had stopped taking medication.
With some hesitation, however, he eventually made the accused subject to 18 months of supervision, with a requirement that he seek alcohol counselling.