A racist man has come to police attention 15 times in the space of nine months since promising a sheriff he could behave “forever”.
Alan Shand, 41, made the promise to Sheriff Graeme Napier when he deferred sentence over an offence of shouting racist remarks on Urquhart Street on June 28 last year.
Sheriff Napier asked: “Do you think you can keep out of trouble for six months?”
When Shand said yes, he asked: “Nine months?”
Shand replied: “Forever.”
The sheriff said: “I can’t put a date down as being forever.”
Shand suggested: “For the next 20 years.”
Sheriff Napier replied: “Nine months. You can come back in nine months and let’s see if you’ve been of good behaviour.”
But when the case called against Shand at Aberdeen Sheriff Court this week it emerged he failed to keep his promise.
Fiscal depute Susan Love told the court: “I can confirm the accused has not been of good behaviour.
“He has come to police attention on 15 separate occasions, 11 of which have been reported to the crown.”
Narrating the details of the offence on June 28 last year, Ms Love said: “The witness was within her own address which overlooks the locus on Urquhart Street.
“The witness heard the accused shout for about 30 minutes and during this time he was heard to make remarks such as ‘I hate Polish, I hate Romanians’, ‘get out of this country’ and ‘soon there will be Brexit and you won’t be able to rent a flat’.”
Ms Love said the witness perceived the comments to be racial and contacted police.
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Shand had admitted a racially aggravated charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner over that incident.
He also previously pled guilty to acting in a racially aggravated manner on Urquhart Street on June 9 last year.
Ms Love said: “At around 1.45pm a witness was travelling on a skateboard along the pavement at the locus.
“He does not know the accused.
“At this time he observed the accused standing in front of him in the direction he was travelling.
“The witness went to walk past the accused and the accused purposely stood directly in front of him, getting into his face.
“The accused then proceeded to question the witness on if he had a licence for his skateboard.
“The witness tried not to engage and to walk past. The accused moved with him and stood in his way.
“The witness placed his hand on the shoulder of the accused in an attempt to get past. The accused responded aggressively by shouting ‘you pushed me, don’t push me’.
“The witness felt the accused’s breath on his face and felt intimidated and scared so said sorry but he wished to continue walking down the street.
“The accused made racial slurs towards the witness, saying ‘you should not be here, go back to your own country’.”
Ms Love said another witness overheard the incident and contacted police.
And Shand, of Urquhart Street, Aberdeen, further admitted another charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on the same street on February 25 this year.
Defence agent Neil McRobert said his client had consumed alcohol at the time of the offences.
The solicitor added a social work report indicated Shand had support of drug services and was complying with a supervision order.
He said the report also recommended the imposition of a further supervision order to “address the issues which exist”.
Sheriff William Summers said: “These are troubling offences when viewed particularly against the backdrop of your client’s record.
“I recognise there are underlying mental health issues.”
He imposed an 18-month supervision order and 100 hours of unpaid work.
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