Man reacted ‘aggressively’ when asked to leave home he had entered uninvited after taking drugs

A 43-year-old man who entered a home uninvited after taking drugs and then slapped a guest when asked to leave has been fined £300.

Craig Nelson admitted to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, when he appeared before Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday,

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Nelson had shown up to an address in Sandveien in the town on 23rd May. He said Nelson, of Staney Hill, had not been invited and was intoxicated.

When the complainer, a man who was with the householder, asked him to leave, Mr MacKenzie said Nelson “did not comply”.

Instead he “reacted aggressively, shouting and swearing, and slapped the complainer on the head before leaving”.

Defence agent Tommy Allan asked the sheriff to take into account how his client had attended court “on his own free will – which is perhaps unusual for him”.

He suggested the sheriff should be “impressed” with how “fit and healthy” his client appeared compared to previous court appearances.

Mr Allan said Nelson had been accustomed to entering the Sandveien property to visit his friends but accepts he would not have been welcome “in the state he was in that day”.

Following the anniversary of his mother’s death, the defence agent said his client had a “bit of a lapse with his drug misuse”.

Since then, however, Mr Allan said Nelson’s life had turned around.

He said his client was seeking support for post traumatic stress disorder, addiction and mental health issues – and had started going to the gym.

“In general, things have not looked as good for him now, as they have in a long while,” Mr Allan said.

The defence agent said Nelson regretted the incident, particularly as it involved his friends.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank admonished Nelson for the threatening behaviour and fined him £300 plus a £20 victim surcharge for slapping the man on the head.