A roadworker who chased a man with a chainsaw has been freed from jail after a sheriff heard there was no chain in the device.
Adam Munro, 27, brandished it at another man, 20, who fell to the ground, injuring himself in the process.
The incident happened on the evening of March 9 this year near a home in Hilton, Cowie, a court was told.
Rachel Wallace, prosecuting, said: “[The man] looked out of his window and observed the accused in possession of a chainsaw, with the motor running, at the entrance to his garden.
“He went outside to get him out of his garden and the accused came towards him with the chainsaw.”
Miss Wallace said the man initially fell down, but managed to get back to his feet and chase Munro away. He suffered “several minor scratches” to his right calf.
At Falkirk Sheriff Court on Tuesday, Munro, of Cowie, who appeared by video link from prison where he had been held since the incident, pleaded guilty to assault.
Solicitor Fraser McCready, defending, said: “Mr Munro had been taking cocaine on the evening in question in his own home. [The man] attended at his door. There seems to have been an argument at the door and Mr Munro was injured as a result of this.
“His reaction, regrettably, was to grab a chainsaw from his cupboard and to chase [the man] with it.
“I spoke to [the man] a few weeks ago and he indicated to me, for what it’s worth, that he’d have preferred this case not to have proceeded, and, perhaps more importantly, that there was no actual chain on the chainsaw.”
Mr McCready said it was Munro who had dialled 999.
The court heard that Munro had spent eight months on remand waiting for his case to be disposed of.
Sheriff Maryam Labaki sentenced him to 300 hours of unpaid work, and placed him under social work supervision for three years, thereby allowing him to leave jail immediately.
She said: “Notwithstanding that this is a serious matter, I am satisfied there is an alternative to custody in your case.”