A MAN who couldn’t pay a taxi fare has been jailed after threatening police with a knife and trying to stab himself when the row escalated.

Dean Scott appeared from custody at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on December 20 over the incident last Tuesday evening, and pleaded guilty to assaulting two officers and failing to pay for his taxi journey.

The 32-year-old was picked up around 5pm from John Brown’s bar to head to his home in Durban Avenue. On arrival, he said he only had £2 towards the £7 fare and one of the coins was an old £1 – no longer legal tender.

The driver took him to Clydebank police office where officers offered to take Scott – who smelled of alcohol – home to search for the remaining cash. The driver was told he’d be contacted about the remaining fare.

At Durban Avenue, Scott began looking for cash around 6pm and found a jar of 1p and 2p coins, but that didn’t add up to the outstanding £6.

Fiscal depute Emma Thomson said he asked police: “Am I getting the jail?”

Scott then went into the kitchen and was followed by one of the officers as he appeared to be searching for something.

He picked up a black-handled kitchen knife in his right hand and turned it towards the constable, who drew his CS spray and told Scott to drop the blade.

The other officer came in and also drew his spray as Scott pointed the knife at them and shouted “f**k you”.

The first PC sprayed a short burst at Scott’s face, before the knifeman turned the blade downward and repeatedly plunged it into his lower abdomen – but didn’t puncture the skin.

Police repeatedly shouted for him to drop the knife and released another burst of spray at Scott’s face, causing him to finally drop it.

He was checked and found to have no injuries, Ms Thomson said: “The knife appeared to fail to puncture several layers of clothing.”

Scott was taken to hospital and then Clydebank police office.

Defence solicitor Judith Reid told the court Scott believed he had £20 but quickly discovered he had lost it and was unable to sort things out.

She said Scott had a history of self-harm since the age of 12 but his court appearances had been limited in the past few years. She added his mental health had declined recently.

Ms Reid added: “He realised quite recently his mental health was in decline.”

Sheriff Simon Pender said custody was the only appropriate sentence and jailed Scott for five months. Scott will serve an equivalent prison term for the more minor taxi fare offence as he’s unable to pay a court-ordered fine.