A DUNTOCHER man was so incensed by the sound of workmen cutting wood near his home that he donned a black balaclava and rushed at them brandishing bottles in each hand.

Sean Hagen reacted furiously to the noises being made by the two workmen next door to his Stark Avenue flat in April – forcing them to take cover inside the nearby flat they were working on.

The 34-year-old appeared in court for sentencing on Friday after pleading guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the two men in a way that was likely to cause them fear or alarm.

Fiscal depute Sarah Healing told Dumbarton Sheriff Court that the two workmen were cutting pieces of wood at the property at around 8.30am on April 4 when they became aware of a male voice – the accused – shouting “keep the f*****g noise down, ya bams”.

Ms Healing said: “They initially ignored this and continued working.

“A short time later they observed the accused coming up the stairs towards them wearing a black balaclava.

“He picked up two bottles or similar items from the floor, holding one in each hand, and ran towards them, still shouting.

“This caused them to retreat into the flat they were working on.

“Police were contacted and found the accused in a park near the locus at around 9.55am, still wearing the black balaclava and drinking two bottles of beer.”

Hagen was arrested and taken to the police station in Clydebank before being cautioned and charged.

Tom Brown, defending, told the court: “It is a serious matter, but his last analogous conviction was back in 2014.

“There are mental health issues that are being addressed, but I would suggest there is perhaps scope for a community payback order [as a punishment]. He is fit to do unpaid work.”

Stark was originally accused of two other offences – littering and drinking alcohol in a public place – in connection with the incident, but his pleas of not guilty to those charges were accepted by the Crown.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Hagen: “What I say next ought to be a statement of the blindingly obvious, but this is a totally unacceptable way to behave in any community.

“Your record is not to your credit at all, and if there was any recent analogous offending I would simply be sending you to prison today.

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“With some hesitation, and as an alternative to custody, I will make you the subject of a community payback order.”

Hagen will be supervised by social workers for 18 months and will be required to undertake mental health and alcohol counselling or treatment whenever his supervisor tells him.

He was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community work by January of next year.

The sheriff added: “If you fail to turn up on time and do the work to a good standard, the order will be breached, and I suspect I won’t have to think for very long about what to do in those circumstances.”