Nwicker60
31-May-13, 13:26
Accused talked down by father
A MAN triggered a police incident response after he staged a roof-top protest in Wick.
People gathered behind a cordon in the town’s two-storey timber houses in the town's Glamis Road as officers tried to persuade Hugh Newlands, 24, to come down.
At one point, Wick Sheriff Court heard today, he threatened to crash through the roof if the police didn’t depart.
Newlands, of 5 Cairndhuna Terrace, Wick, eventually responded to appeals from his concerned father and climbed down and the growing crowd watching the drama, dispersed around 10.30pm. Newlands was taken to Caithness General Hospital for a check-up. He admitted breaching a 7pm-7am curfew imposed, at the court the previous day when he was granted bail to allow his suitability for a drug testing order to be ascertained.
Solicitor Neil Wilson said that the accused had been under the influence of a substance at the time. Newlands had mental health issues and had been self-medicating. Sheriff Andrew Berry commented on the inconvenience the accused had caused the police and added: “They have more than enough to do investigating crime and protecting the public interest. A prison sentence is clearly the only appropriate sentence." Newlands, who has a record, was jailed for 120 days.
A MAN triggered a police incident response after he staged a roof-top protest in Wick.
People gathered behind a cordon in the town’s two-storey timber houses in the town's Glamis Road as officers tried to persuade Hugh Newlands, 24, to come down.
At one point, Wick Sheriff Court heard today, he threatened to crash through the roof if the police didn’t depart.
Newlands, of 5 Cairndhuna Terrace, Wick, eventually responded to appeals from his concerned father and climbed down and the growing crowd watching the drama, dispersed around 10.30pm. Newlands was taken to Caithness General Hospital for a check-up. He admitted breaching a 7pm-7am curfew imposed, at the court the previous day when he was granted bail to allow his suitability for a drug testing order to be ascertained.
Solicitor Neil Wilson said that the accused had been under the influence of a substance at the time. Newlands had mental health issues and had been self-medicating. Sheriff Andrew Berry commented on the inconvenience the accused had caused the police and added: “They have more than enough to do investigating crime and protecting the public interest. A prison sentence is clearly the only appropriate sentence." Newlands, who has a record, was jailed for 120 days.