Topless thug who took machete and knife in to the street narrowly avoids jail

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A topless thug who went out armed with a machete and a hunting knife claiming he “wanted to be arrested” has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.David Sloan, of MacDowall Street, Johnstone, admitted grabbing the weapons and heading into the street wearing only jogging bottoms after a drinking session.The two deadly blades which Sloan, 30, used to “grab attention” as he “wanted to be arrested” were shown to Paisley Sheriff Court.Senior Procurator Fiscal Depute David McDonald told the court: “Around 8.30pm on November 3, Sloan was within a property in MacDowall Street consuming alcohol.“Sloan had no clothing on the top half of his body.“A witness saw Sloan leaving the property with a machete in his hand and wearing grey jogger bottoms and walking towards Quarry Street.“The accused was then seen putting the machete down his trousers and the witness contacted the police.“Around 8.35pm, police officers saw the accused at a block of flats.“When officers exited the vehicle, they saw Sloan place something in a bush. Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here. “They told him to show his hands and lie on the ground.“Police carried out a search of thick shrubbery where they found a large wooden handled machete and a smaller hunting knife with a black handle.”Defence agent Jim Clarke told the court Sloan had “abused alcohol” on the night of the incidentHe said: “Mr Sloan knows he could be sent to prison today but I would like to propose you step away from that today.“He understands that