A SCAR-faced thug who tried to kill a Dumbarton cop in a machete attack has been jailed for 10 years.

Craig Brown, 31, repeatedly lashed out at Sergeant Brian Simpson, who was left fearing for his life last September.

The terrified officer previously told jurors he had never experienced anything like it in his 19-year career following the incident in Ashton View, Dumbarton.

Brown today returned to the High Court in Glasgow having earlier been convicted of attempted murder.

Lord Clark told him: “It is a fundamental feature that police officers are there to look after the welfare of others ... what you did was utterly contemptible.”

The judge noted the thug already had a lengthy record including a number of convictions for serious assault.

Lord Clark said it showed Brown had a “marked propensity for serious violence”.

Brown – who showed no emotion as he was lead to the cells – will also be supervised for four years on his release.

Last month, the Reporter revealed how Brown had previously been convicted in 2016 of threatening cops in Clydebank and praising notorious cop-killer Dale Cregan.

Cregan, who murdered two police officers in 2012 after luring them to a Greater Manchester house with a hoax call, was called "a legend" by Brown in the 2016 incident.

During Brown's trial in April, jurors heard how Sgt Simpson, 44, had been called to someone acting suspiciously in the street.

He was alone when he spotted Brown and initially asked was he okay.

Brown said: “Are you an armed response unit?”

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Sgt Simpson recalled: “It was an unusual question. I said no. He then stated: 'Well, you better get one'.

“I knew exactly what he meant as he then withdrew a long machete from his right trouser leg.

“He immediately held it out...in an aggressive, threatening manner.”

Prosecutors described the machete as a “horrific looking weapon”.

Sgt Simpson initially brought out his incapacitant spray to try and ward off the man.

The officer said Brown instead was “waving” the weapon about.

He told the sergeant: “You better hope armed police are on their way.”

The officer recalled: “He ran at me with the sword...I ran behind a vehicle to create a barrier.

“I saw him wave the sword just missing my back. By that time, it was only a couple of feet away.”

Sgt Simpson used his spray with no success and was forced to call for back up.

He told the jury: “I was scared. I was there by myself in front of someone telling me to get firearms officers.

“There was absolutely no need to be walking about the streets with it.

“If that had struck me, it would have caused significant injuries.”

Brown also “chopped down” on Sgt Simpson's car and smashed a window.

But, he suddenly fled when other officers arrived.

Sgt Simpson told the court: “I have never been threatened with a weapon like this in my service.

“He was trying to stab me with it, attack me. I felt shocked that someone could be walking the streets like that.

“There were a lot of 'what ifs' afterwards like what if I had not reacted as quickly as I did do.

“He could have killed me.”

David Moggach, defending, today said: “He acknowledges that he has been convicted of a serious crime, but his position is that he did not attempt to murder the police sergeant.”