A MAN who smashed a window at his home in Dumbarton shouted "get me the f*****g jail" when police arrived at the scene.

Kyle O'Neill broke the living room window at his home in Overburn Terrace on October 19 last year.

He also called the police "f*****g c***s" and refused to calm down when warned to behave himself.

O'Neill, 30, appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court for sentencing on February 18.

Defence solicitor Brian McGuire said: "It appears to have been a deliberate attempt to get himself arrested.

"My instructions were also to 'get him the jail' when he went to court.

"He was looking to simply go to jail to get away from his problems, which all appear to relate to the house he was living in."

Mr McGuire said O'Neill's position had "changed somewhat" since he was interviewed by a social worker, and that he now "indicated he would be vulnerable in a custodial setting".

He added that the council's housing department was looking at re-housing O'Neill in a new property where it was hoped the same issues would not arise.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry replied: "It appears to be a cry for help. But there is help available to him, and he doesn't seem to want to take it."

The sheriff told O'Neill: "I accept things are difficult for you. That doesn't mean you have any excuse for doing what you did.

"I think you would find that while going to jail might, bizarrely, seem attractive, wouldn't be attractive in reality at all."

O'Neill was handed a community payback order which will see him supervised by a social worker for 12 months.

A specific requirement of the order is that he must attend for mental health counselling and/or treatment whenever his supervisor tells him.