Moray man jailed for 11 months after drunkenly spitting at police officer

A MORAY man has been jailed for 11 months after spitting at a police officer.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Joseph Grant (61), who lives with family in Keith, was arrested after drunkenly trying to obtain money from a local authority office.

After his arrest, he was taken to Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness, procurator fiscal Alison Young told Sheriff David Harvie.

"At the charge bar, he turned his head and spat at a police constable," Mrs Young went on. "The officer put his hand up and it hit him in the arm. If he hadn't, it would have hit his face."

Grant had been travelling around Scotland prior to his arrest and was found unconscious in Lochaber and taken to hospital in Fort William.

After being treated and medicated, Grant, who was described in court as an Inverness prisoner, got drunk on a bus journey to Nairn.

Grant had intended to travel on to Forres on March 8, 2023, to see his brother, but ran out of money. It was at this point that he drunkenly tried to obtain money from the local authority office.

Defence solicitor Willie Young said: "On the course of the bus journey, he took alcohol on top of his medication he got from hospital.

"He has struggled with alcohol addiction for many years and the majority of his convictions are alcohol related. He has little recollection of events."

Jailing Grant, who admitted assaulting the officer, for 11 months, Sheriff Harvie told him: "It was despicable behaviour towards a police officer. In the past year, you served a custodial sentence for a similar incident."