Man had machete in Stenhousemuir

A 28-year-old said he was carrying a machete in public because he had received threats and felt the need to arm himself for his own protection.

Shaun Mowatt, an inmate at Low Moss Prison, admitted carrying the blade in Johnston Avenue, Stenhousemuir, on November 10 last year.

Sheriff John Mundy said, in light of Mowatt’s extensive criminal record, he had to go to prison for such an offence and gave him an 18 month sentence back dated to November 13 last year.