EVEN scissors can be a potentially deadly weapon, warned a sheriff last week who saw x-ray images of a life nearly lost because of one.

Sheriff William Gallacher said a recent training session reiterated the damage that can be caused by scissors as he jailed a Dumbarton man for having one as parents took their children to school.

Bryan Wood, listed as a prisoner of Low Moss, pleaded guilty last month to having the weapon Milton Brae, Dumbarton, and breaching a bail order from the justice of the peace court.

He was said to have been outside after a dispute with his mother.

Sheriff Gallacher told the 30-year-old on his judicial training, the x-ray showed scissors lodged in a man 1cm from his aorta.

He said: "That's something that could have caused death. The nature of the prohibition extending to scissors is because it could cause harm."

He added that Wood had caused "significant difficulty in the past" and jailed him for 20 months, backdated to March 2. He will be supervised for a further nine months on his release.

But then a separate case, dealt with on Wednesday, led to an extra three months in jail added on to Wood's sentence because of a drunken incident where he shouted, swore and police were called by his own sister.

The scissors were found when police responded to reports of an intoxicated man around 8.30am on March 1, as families were heading to school, the court was told at a previous hearing.

She said: "They attended and observed the accused bending over a [fence] and appeared to be concealing something. He appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs.

"He was detained and searched and within a front trouser pocket, they recovered a pair of black-handled scissors. He was immediately arrested and conveyed to Clydebank police office but due to his intoxicated state, he was not cautioned or charged."

Defence solicitor Tom Brown said Wood's last conviction involved a cake slice and the March 1 incident took place outside his own home, in Park View, Milton Brae, Milton.

He said: "The fence he was hanging over was his own. There was some sort of dispute with his mother and that's why he was outside."