Wick man ‘didn’t care if he goes to prison’ after abusing Good Samaritans in street
A Wick man who shunned the help offered to him after he fell in a street was jailed for five months at the town’s sheriff court on Tuesday.
William McPhee (62) shouted and swore at the “Good Samaritans” at The Shore, Wick, on August 12, and later at nursing staff at Caithness General Hospital.
He appeared for sentence from custody and admitted charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and further unrelated counts of sexual and police assault.
Fiscal depute Grant McLennan said that a coastguard officer who was engaged in a training exercise got out of his vehicle to render first aid but drunken McPhee adopted “an aggressive demeanour”.
The police were summoned and tried to help but were also subjected to “a tirade of abuse”.
Mr MacLennan said: “A passing consultant also stopped to assist but was unable to engage with McPhee.
“Police officers were unsure whether McPhee was suffering from the effects of alcohol or from the head injury he has sustained in the fall and summoned an ambulance.”
McPhee was admitted to A&E at Caithness General. Nurses took him to a side room in a bid to curb his behaviour but without success. The accused was cautioned and charged before being discharged.
McPhee pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of having sexually assaulted a woman by touching her bottom on July 14 in Henderson Street, Thurso, where he was staying at the time. He also admitted having assaulted a police constable by grabbing his groin.
George Mathers said that McPhee wasn’t fit to carry out unpaid work and “didn’t care whether or not he would be sent to prison.” However, the solicitor appealed to Sheriff Neil Wilson not to jail the accused and consider him as someone who required supervision.
Mr Mathers added: “McPhee has been using alcohol all his life and is self-medicating along with drink.”
Sheriff Wilson said that McPhee had admitted serious charges, his background report “does not make happy reading” and a custodial sentence was inevitable.
McPhee was jailed for five months on the incidents at The Shore and the same term for the sexual and police assaults. Both sentences run concurrently so his jail term is five months.
The accused was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years.