A shariff has expressed dismay at the ease with which children as young as 11 are gaining access to alcohol and illegal drugs.
Robert McCreadie spoke out from the bench as he was faced with a 27-year-old Perth man who had admitted assaulting the mother of his child following a drunken Valentine’s Day bust-up.
Heavily under the influence of alcohol, Steven Livingstone pushed his then partner to the ground and then threatened to kill himself with a kitchen knife in February last year.
Reading from a report prepared for the court, Sheriff McCreadie said it was clear Livingstone had experienced long-term issues with drink and drugs and said they raised real concerns about the community in which he lives.
“This young man has told social workers that he started drinking with his peer group at the age of 11 or 12, consuming first cider, then Buckfast and finally vodka,” he said.
“He also told them that he had taken cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and valium from age 12 and has continued to take cannabis in particular, apparently thinking that it is OK to take an illegal drug to help him sleep.
“It is deeply disturbing to me that someone of this age in our communities can gain access to large quantities of alcohol and illegal drugs with such ease.
“This young man has been taking alcohol for 16 years of his young life. Drinking to excess damages people’s health, damages their brains and can lead to early death.
“Do our young people know what they are doing to themselves?”
Livingstone, of Iona Court in Perth, admitted assaulting the woman on February 15 last year by grabbing her and pushing her to the ground.
The couple who are now separated had been attending a house party and returned to their home in the early hours of February 15 last year.
Solicitor Linda Clark said both had consumed a fair amount of alcohol and told the court that her client had no recollection of how the argument started.
“It ended when the complainer said that she was leaving and that she was taking their child with her. Mr Livingstone obviously did not want this to happen.
“As soon as he pushed (the woman) he felt bad and this obviously translated to his threatening to harm himself.”
Concerned for his safety, the woman contacted the accused’s mother, who in turn called the police. Livingstone told the court that he had abstained from drinking alcohol since the incident.
He was made subject to a community payback order for 12 months, ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and told to seek treatment for his problems with alcohol.
Issuing one final warning, Sheriff McCreadie said: “If you do not listen and learn from this then I fear you will quickly find yourself back in court again.”
A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said the region’s young people learn in schools about “the dangers and risks that smoking, drinking and drug misuse present to health and wellbeing.
“Pupils are encouraged to make healthy choices about their lives and resist peer pressure,” she said.
“The council also provides a range of activities for young people through our youth services and we work closely with our community planning partners to help people who are affected by alcohol or drug misuse and support them to tackle their addictions.”