A BRUCEHILL man dialled 999 and told police to come to his home – because he would “butcher” his wife if they didn’t.

Archibald MacDonald made the chilling threat in an emergency call in the early hours of the morning.

When police arrived at the property a short time later, they found MacDonald inside and with his mum desperately trying to calm him down.

MacDonald had previously been likened to The Scarlet Pimpernel by a judge who was unimpressed both at his failure to co-operate with social workers, and at the difficulty the authorities had had in tracking him down.

However, justice finally caught up with him when he appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing on Friday, September 20, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to charges of threatening or abusive behaviour towards his partner and of failing to appear at court.

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Describing events at the property in Brucehill Road on February 25, fiscal depute Meghan Glancey said: “The accused and the complainer had spent the evening at home consuming alcohol.

“At around three o’clock in the morning an argument ensued between them, and the accused told the complainer he was leaving the locus to call the police.

“At five past three police received a 999 call, during which the accused stated ‘if you don’t come to [the address] I’m going to kill my wife’.

“Police attended and could hear a male shouting within; officers entered the locus and saw the accused with his mum, trying to calm him down.

“He was taken out of the locus by police, and began shouting ‘I’ll butcher her and drag her around like a f*****g goat - I’ll do five years for this, I don’t give a f***’.”

MacDonald’s lawyer, Derek Buchanan, said a brief report on the 26-year-old had been provided by social workers, and told the court there was only one other matter outstanding against his client.

Sheriff John Hamilton told MacDonald, now of Glencairn Road in Brucehill: “You need to learn to behave yourself.”

MacDonald agreed to be placed on a community payback order.

He will be supervised by a social worker for 12 months, and must do 140 hours of unpaid work within six months as a punishment.

On the charge of failing to appear in court, he was admonished and dismissed.