A BELLSMYRE man has been spared jail for kicking off at police after smashing a door with a shovel.

Paul Martin was in the dock at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on January 9 where he pleaded guilty to destroying a glass pane in the door in MacFarlane Place, Arrochar, on September 15, and struggling violently with officers called to deal with the incident.

Depute fiscal Sarah Healing told the court the incident began after a neighbour of Martin’s grandmother, whom he was visiting at the time, engaged in an altercation with him while he was exercising a puppy in the garden.

The neighbour threw the spade at Martin, of Whiteford Avenue, who reacted by throwing a shovel at the neighbour, smashing the glass in the process.

She added: “The accused was hostile to police officers. He began shouting and swearing and was making statements, such as, ‘if youse want to talk about him, I’m not f****** interested’.

“He was warned but continued. He tensed his body, shouted ‘I’m not going f****** anywhere’, he clenched his fists and drew his arms to his side before struggling violently with them.

“He was still shouting and swearing and threatening to assault them. He asked them to take the handcuffs off so that he could ‘do them in’. Police officers had to use their combined body weight to control him sufficiently to handcuff him.”

The 36-year-old’s solicitor said his client was drunk at the time of the offence but had since admitted his conduct was “out of order”.

He added: “There have been previous problems between them. It wasn’t the first time [the neighbour] was abusive.

“He recognises now in the cold light of day he shouldn’t have acted that way. His behaviour was, as he described it, ‘out of order’.

Sheriff John Hamilton ordered Martin to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work within six months, reduced from 120 hours on account of his guilty plea.

He told Martin: “As you said, it was out of order. It was unnecessary.”