Booze trip to Wick Tesco costs man £1000 after drunken threat to shop assistant
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A drunk man made a brutal threat to a supermarket assistant after she refused his request for alcohol.
Michael Nicolson told the woman: "I will cut your head off."
His visit to Tesco in Wick proved a costly one as he was ordered to pay her compensation of £1000 at Wick Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
Nicolson (48) admitted having behaved in a threatening or abusive manner.
Sheriff Mark Lindsay heard that the accused arrived at the store on the night of January 9, to purchase alcohol.
David Barclay said: "The assistant refused him service because of his intoxicated state."
The fiscal continued: "Nicolson was not happy and told the assistant, 'Do you know who I am? I will cut your head off'. The assistant was clearly alarmed by the incident."
Nicolson left the store and was seen getting into a taxi, shortly afterwards. Police officers identified him from CCTV footage and he was charged the following day.
Nicolson told officers: "I will hold my hands up. I want to say I am sorry... too much alcohol."
Nicolson, of Willowbank, Wick, also indicated that he wanted to apologise personally to the assistant.
Alannah Comerford told the court that Nicolson, a pipe fitter, had been "completely intoxicated" at the time and recalled little of the incident, which he accepted would have been very troubling for the assistant.
The solicitor went on: "He is extremely ashamed of his conduct and his response to the police shows some contrition."
Miss Comerford made the point that Nicolson had been out of trouble since 2018 and had turned his life around. She added: "He has managed to mend his ways and hopefully his actions are a one-off."
Sheriff Lindsay fixed a compensation order for Ms McAulay. He said he had initially considered a figure of £1500 but taking everything into consideration he would discount that to £1000.
