Denny man fined £700 after punching police officer during home incident

Officers were called out to Gary Bell’s home – Flat 6, 9 Park Place – on October 22, 2020 following a report he’d “harmed himself”.

Bell appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having admitted assaulting a policeman by punching him on the head.

When police arrived at the property, they were met by the 29-year-old, who appeared “aggressive”.

Procurator fiscal depute Rebecca Reid said: “Around 2.30pm, police were contacted to state the accused had potentially harmed himself.

“A short time later, police attended at the accused's home. The accused answered the door and immediately became aggressive towards both officers, but also repeatedly shouted that he required help.

“Police attempted to calm the accused down as he backed off into the locus. The accused backed himself into his bedroom.

“He was again told to calm down and desist from his conduct, however, the accused then pulled his fist back and motioned it towards a police officer before again pulling his fist back and punching a police officer to his left ear.

“The police officer sustained bruising to his inside ear but didn't require any medical attention. In reply to the caution and charge, the accused stated, ‘I’m sorry for doing that’.”

Sheriff Derek Livingston said he found a background report “slightly strange”.

Sheriff Livingston explained: “Apart from the fact he has at least four assaults, he claimed the assault was deliberate because he wanted to be jailed.

“If he wanted to be jailed, why did it take him seven months to plead guilty?

“I read how remorseful he is in the report. I have some difficulty with that, given how long it took him to plead guilty.

“Why was everybody’s time wasted for seven months?”

Bell’s defence solicitor said: “He pleaded guilty at a trial diet.

“I didn’t appear for him on the first occasion. Whatever the decision was, he pleaded not guilty.

“There was a significant adjournment because of Covid.

“There was a further delay, legal aid was granted. He did apologise.

“He was somebody who had a significant breakdown and had consumed alcohol to exacerbate the situation.

“When police arrived he clearly acted in a very rash manner.”

However, Sheriff Livingston interjected: “It wasn’t rash, it was deliberate.”

The solicitor said their client had “been in trouble for a number of years” but there had been a three-year gap between the October 2020 offence and Bell’s previous crime.

The lawyer added: “He became aware his ex-partner had met another.

“He has a problem with abusing alcohol.”

The court was told the incident was engineer Bell’s fifth assault.

His solicitor said: “The social worker views him as no risk of re-offending.

“Because work and family commitments take him out for significant periods of time, a restriction of liberty order is deemed as problematic.”

Bell was spared jail because of his employment and was fined £700 and ordered to pay £300 in compensation to the police officer.

He must also pay a £40 victim impact surcharge.

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