Supervision for court struggle

A MAN who struggled violently with custody officers in Lerwick Sheriff Court after being sent to prison last year has been placed under supervision for 18 months.

Craig Nelson, whose address was given as Grampian Prison, got into the scuffle as he was being led through the building from the courtroom into custody in the connecting police station on 18 April.

The 39 year old previously admitted conducting himself in a disorderly manner, shouting, swearing, struggling with custody officers and committing a breach of the peace.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie previously told the court that Nelson’s walk to custody was made worse by “hangers on” who were trying to speak to him as he was being escorted down the stairs.

Nelson then became “frustrated and angry”, the fiscal had said, and “literally dug his heels in and refused to be moved”.

Defence agent Tommy Allan told the court that his client had just been sentenced to 14 months in prison immediately prior to the incident.

He suggested that Nelson wrongly believed he would have been able to speak to his sister as he was being walked down the stairs, and this contributed to his frustration.

The case had been deferred for social work reports and Allan told the court on Wednesday that his client was “motivated not to go back into custody”.

Sheriff Philip Mann decided to place Nelson under supervision for 18 months and warned him that further offending would likely see him return to prison.

“This is an opportunity you’ve been given and you need to grasp it,” he said.