Bonnybridge offender held knife and threatened to stab police

Melissa McMenaman (28) appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour in Godfrey Avenue, Denny and behaving in a racially aggravated manner at Falkirk Police Station on April 26 last year.

Rose Wilson, procurator fiscal depute, said: “The accused was in her grandmother's property – she had stayed there the previous night due to her falling out with her mother.

"She bought alcohol from a nearby shop and began drinking it in the house, against her grandmother’s rules. As time went by the accused became more intoxicated and started shouting at her 71-year-old grandmother.

"At 2pm the accused’s mother attended at the property to try and give the accused a lift back to her home address. No amount of talking could calm her down. She phoned 999 and told police her mother had assaulted her and that she wished the police to attend immediately.

"Then she got a kitchen knife from the drawer and stated she was going to go out with a bang when the police arrived. making threats to stab the officers who were coming saying ‘this is going to go through one of the cops when they come’.

"At 3pm officers attended and saw the accused was intoxicated in the kitchen and the mother was holding the accused’s one-year-old daughter.”

Sheriff Derek Livingston commented on there being four generations of the same family present at the time of the unfortunate incident.

"The accused then made threats to police when they blocked her path," said the procurator fiscal depute. “She was put in the police vehicle and her behaviour continued while in custody, as she made racially abusive remarks to an English officer.”

Defence solicitor Martin Morrow said: “She had lost her two grandfathers in a very short period of time immediately prior to this incident.”

The court heard McMenaman had three young children all under the age of 10.

Sheriff Derek Livingston placed McMenaman 9 Ure Crescent. Bonnybridge on supervised community payback order for two years with the condition she attend mental health treatment and alcohol counselling.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.

https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/nord/dm/FKH/V