A DUMBARTON man told shop workers in the town he would "stab them in the head".

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week that Stephen McLaughlin, 41, erupted when workers tried to prevent him leaving the Co-op store in the town.

Fiscal depute Eoin McGinty said McLaughlin entered the shop at around 5pm on March 29 and staff became suspicious when he went straight to a fridge cabinet.

They confronted him as he tried to leave the shop and barred him from leaving, causing him to become angry. He slammed an item down on a counter and tried to leave again but was barred.

Mr McGinty said: “He was blocked and became more agitated. He pushed over a display unit causing items to fall to the floor.

“He said to staff ‘If I had a knife you would have been stabbed in the head just now and I’m going to come back and wreck this place’.

“He punched one of the employees on the head and headbutted another member of staff.”

He said neither of the employees were injured by the assault.

McLaughlin, of Park Crescent, Dumbarton, appeared in court last week for sentencing after failing to attend court-ordered appointments and to turn up at court previously. He was sentenced to 10 months in jail for a series of offences which he had previously admitted, including the shop attack and being caught in King Street, Renton, while in possession of heroin in February. He had also pleaded guilty to stealing electrical equipment worth £76 from Adsa at St James Retail Park, Dumbarton, on March 29.

McLaughlin’s solicitor, Scott Adair, told the court thatsaid his client had suffered "addiction difficulties", leading to his failure to attend court and other appointments. Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told McLauglin: “It’s not possible for the legal system to help people if these people are not prepared to meet the effort.”

He said he had no option but jail him.