Nwicker60
06-Sep-15, 10:33
Sheriff warns - "Such incidents will not be tolerated"
A TEENAGER who admitted a knife attack on Thurso esplanade has been sentenced to fifteen months detention.
Dominic Long, from Thurso, will then be subject to supervision for seven months, having been classed as a potential risk to the public.
The sentence was imposed on the 19-year-old by Sheriff Andrew Berry, who said that if he didn't grasp the opportunity of supervision, his future might well be "endless spells in and out of custody, of increasing lengths".
Long, one of two men who appeared from custody at Wick Sheriff Court, admitted a charge of assault. His co-accused was 21-year-old Paul Cannop, also from Thurso.
He pleaded guilty to threatening two boys at Ormlie Skate Park in Thurso, on June 20, by saying he would "slit their throats", after one of them refused to give the accused a lift on his bike. Cannop admitted a further charge of assaulting the father of one of the boys at a house in Thurso, while on bail.
Referring to the skate park threat, David Barclay, prosecuting, said: "There was a verbal outburst, then a reference to a kicking finishing with the comment - 'Get back here or I will slit your throats".
The fiscal said that the two boys were "quite understandably" distressed and reported the matter, resulting in involvement by the police. When one of the parents took Cannop to task telling him to leave the children alone, he was punched on his jaw.
There was a confrontation later on Thurso beach esplanade, between Cannop and a 26-year-old man. Long became involved and used a small Swiss army knife to stab the man once on his shoulder. A dog walker found the injured man, bleeding heavily and he was admitted to Caithness General Hospital.
Sentencing Long, Sheriff Berry commented on the fact that although his offending had started only in 2011, the accused had amassed three pages of convictions, two of them involved custodial sentences.
The sheriff, who saw a background report, described the accused's claim that he had found the knife on the ground and picked it up as "highly unlikely".
Sheriff Berry went on: "Such incidents simply cannot be tolerated and there must be a period of detention that sends out a message to anyone else that they will be severely dealt with." The sentence is backdated to June 22 when Long was arrested.
Turning to Cannop, the sheriff said he was "just persuaded" to grant him bail. The accused, said to have been at the esplanade "by arrangement", was described by the sheriff, as someone who was "prepared to change his story if it would show him in the best light".
Cannop was made subject to a drug treatment testing assessment and will have to abide by a 7pm-7am curfew.
Sheriff Berry added: "It may be, that all the social workers' efforts will be a complete waste of time but there is an opprotunity there for you to grasp."
A TEENAGER who admitted a knife attack on Thurso esplanade has been sentenced to fifteen months detention.
Dominic Long, from Thurso, will then be subject to supervision for seven months, having been classed as a potential risk to the public.
The sentence was imposed on the 19-year-old by Sheriff Andrew Berry, who said that if he didn't grasp the opportunity of supervision, his future might well be "endless spells in and out of custody, of increasing lengths".
Long, one of two men who appeared from custody at Wick Sheriff Court, admitted a charge of assault. His co-accused was 21-year-old Paul Cannop, also from Thurso.
He pleaded guilty to threatening two boys at Ormlie Skate Park in Thurso, on June 20, by saying he would "slit their throats", after one of them refused to give the accused a lift on his bike. Cannop admitted a further charge of assaulting the father of one of the boys at a house in Thurso, while on bail.
Referring to the skate park threat, David Barclay, prosecuting, said: "There was a verbal outburst, then a reference to a kicking finishing with the comment - 'Get back here or I will slit your throats".
The fiscal said that the two boys were "quite understandably" distressed and reported the matter, resulting in involvement by the police. When one of the parents took Cannop to task telling him to leave the children alone, he was punched on his jaw.
There was a confrontation later on Thurso beach esplanade, between Cannop and a 26-year-old man. Long became involved and used a small Swiss army knife to stab the man once on his shoulder. A dog walker found the injured man, bleeding heavily and he was admitted to Caithness General Hospital.
Sentencing Long, Sheriff Berry commented on the fact that although his offending had started only in 2011, the accused had amassed three pages of convictions, two of them involved custodial sentences.
The sheriff, who saw a background report, described the accused's claim that he had found the knife on the ground and picked it up as "highly unlikely".
Sheriff Berry went on: "Such incidents simply cannot be tolerated and there must be a period of detention that sends out a message to anyone else that they will be severely dealt with." The sentence is backdated to June 22 when Long was arrested.
Turning to Cannop, the sheriff said he was "just persuaded" to grant him bail. The accused, said to have been at the esplanade "by arrangement", was described by the sheriff, as someone who was "prepared to change his story if it would show him in the best light".
Cannop was made subject to a drug treatment testing assessment and will have to abide by a 7pm-7am curfew.
Sheriff Berry added: "It may be, that all the social workers' efforts will be a complete waste of time but there is an opprotunity there for you to grasp."