Fed-up dad threatened neighbours with pick axe in row over speeding car in Perthshire village

A father threatened neighbours with a pick axe in a row over an antisocial motorist speeding up and down his street.

Henry McDonald was at the end of his tether when he stood outside and shouted at residents while clutching the weapon.

Perth Sheriff Court heard the 25-year-old was fed up with one local driver racing past his home at all hours of the day and night.

McDonald admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner outside his then-home in Spittalfield, on May 13 last year.

He was further found guilty of assaulting his partner at the same property on November 18 2023.

‘What are you looking at?’

Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson, prosecuting, said: “Some time between 10pm and 10.30pm, a neighbour was in the first floor bedroom of her home.

“She heard the accused shouting in the street.”

McDonald was seen standing by his pick-up truck with the tool.

He was heard ranting: “F*** your mother, mongos.”

He then punched the side of his own vehicle.

“The accused then shouted at the witness: ‘What are you looking at?’

“She moved away from the window.”

Her partner on the ground floor then went to the window and saw McDonald standing with the pick axe, staring up at his property.

“Who do you think you are, speaking to a woman like that?” he shouted.

McDonald replied: “Come outside and I’ll show you. F***ing come out.”

He added: “You f***ing mongo. I’ll smash you up and your car.”

The witnesses saw McDonald hold the axe in his right hand and brandish it towards them.

The argument continued and police were called.

Alternative to jail

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “Mr McDonald had a problem with a neighbour speeding up and down the street at all hours of the day.

“He was worried about the effect on his children, the potential risk for them and that they would be woken up through the night.

“Mr McDonald decided to pick up the pick axe, take it outside and say that this wasn’t going to keep happening.

“He expressed himself in ways he shouldn’t.”

In a separate incident six months later, McDonald assaulted his girlfriend by scratching her on the face and seizing her by the body, to her injury.

He denied the attack but was convicted after trial.

The court heard McDonald was still trying to deal with the death of his father.

Sheriff Alison McKay told him: “We can’t have you running around brandishing a pick axe.

“And because there is a victim involved, that does take it to the threshold that I have to consider an alternative to custody.”

McDonald, of Manse Crescent, Stanley, was ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.

He was also placed on supervision for a year.

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