A man has been jailed for trying to stab his cousin during a disturbance outside a Motherwell tower block.
Paul Christison armed himself with a knife and left his flat in Shields Drive before confronting the victim who had allegedly hit a female.
Christison, 30, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week. He admitted assaulting the man by making repeated attempts to stab him on September 28.
Lewis Devoy, prosecuting said the incident happened shortly after 9pm when the victim and other individuals pulled up in a car outside the tower block.
He stated: “They engaged with some females who live there. A fight broke out during which the man assaulted one of the females.
“The accused came downstairs in a lift and saw the tail end of the disturbance.
“The man approached the accused who removed a knife from his shorts and lunged towards his cousin in a striking motion with the knife.
“Some of the females separated the men who had a heated discussion.
“The man went towards the vehicle he had arrived in but the accused followed and made a further attempt to strike him with the knife.
“He missed again and they were separated once more.
“The accused put the knife back in his shorts and re-entered the tower block.
“North Lanarkshire Council staff saw the incident and contacted the police who traced Paul Christison in Wishaw a few days later.”
Christison admitted previous convictions and defence agent Bobby Reid said he had “foolishly become involved when it was nothing to do with him”.
Mr Reid stated: “All parties are known to one another. They are friends.
“My client became aware of the disturbance outside. He took the knife from his shorts to ward off his cousin but then lost control of what he was doing.”
The solicitor added that dad of one Christison has had a drug problem but managed to hold down a job in a warehouse before his arrest.
Sheriff Mungo Bovey jailed him for 16 months, backdated as he has been in custody since October 1.
The sheriff said: “I’m prepared to accept he intervened to protect people. He had good motives but I can’t overlook the fact that he went there tooled up.
“It would have been different had he been empty-handed.”
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