Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east axeman jailed after threatening police with hatchet

Thomas McNeil
Thomas McNeil

A north-east man was handed a jail term after being found guilty of brandishing a hatchet at police.

The court heard that Thomas McNeil also demanded a tub of butter so officers could not grip him.

Police visited Thomas McNeil’s property in Boddam last November in connection with the search for an unknown wanted woman.

The 39-year-old was inside his Station Road home when officers knocked on the door as part of their search operation.

McNeil appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and pled not guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner but following a trial was convicted of the offence.

The court was told he was inside with another woman when officers knocked at the door shortly after 8pm.

Police constable Justin Drennan said he and two colleagues went to the property and one of them saw McNeil pick up the axe through a window.


Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter


Fiscal depute Susan Love asked what the police officer could see through the frosted glass on the house’s front door.

Mr Drennan said: “The accused picked up an axe. He made it clear he wasn’t going to let us in without a struggle.

“This meant there was potential for an arrest warrant situation to turn into a siege. He was adamant he was not going to let us in.”

Ms Love asked if there was anyone else with McNeil and Mr Drennan said there was a woman inside and he asked to get a dairy product for him.

He said: “He asked the female to bring butter so he could lube up.

“I believe it is a reference to the film Bronson. He covers himself in butter so he is difficult to grip for prison officers.”

Mr Drennan said after 20 minutes of negotiations through the door he put down the small axe and let the officers inside.

Defence agent Sam Milligan said McNeil, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, Peterhead, has been in custody since January 14.

He added: “With respect it is an incident encapsulated in a 20-minute exchange. He has nothing further to come before this or any other court.”

Sheriff Christine McCrossan jailed McNeil for six months but he was released having already served three months.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.