A FAIFLEY man has pleaded guilty to a series of charges in which he falsely claimed that his life was in danger or that he had been assaulted.

Colin McComish, of Watchmeal Crescent, committed the offences on three separate dates in May of last year.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to four separate offences, including a breach of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act of 2005, when he appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week.

The first charge admitted by McComish stated that on May 1 last year, at the Jaw reservoir north of Faifley, he called the Scottish Ambulance Service to say he was in the reservoir and that his life was in danger, putting police, fire and ambulance personnel, as well as the crew of a coastguard helicopter, at risk of injury.

The charge stated that McComish’s false claims caused Scottish Fire and Rescue Service officers to enter the reservoir to search for him.

Four days later, at Langside Crescent in Faifley, McComish told police he had been assaulted by an unknown male who had struck him with acid.

He repeated the false claim to a member of the public, who he asked to dial 999, claiming not only that he had been attacked with acid, but that an unknown male had rubbed nettles or a similar item on McComish’s face and body, causing two paramedics to respond and preventing them attending a genuine emergency.

In a fourth charge, McComish admitted leaving a note in a public phone box in Orbiston Place stating that he planned to commit suicide and that he had gone to the Jaw reservoir to do so.

As a result, police, fire and ambulance personnel went to the reservoir along with a police helicopter.

There they found that McComish had accessed a jetty, bound his hands together, and threatened to jump in the water if any of the emergency service workers approached him, again putting them at risk of injury.

McComish was on bail at the time of all the offences, having been granted bail at the same court on January 3 last year.

He pleaded guilty to the four charges just days after appearing in court for a review of a community payback order (CPO).

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That order was imposed late last year after McComish pleaded guilty to a separate offence of wilful fire-raising, having admitted setting fire to a bin in Orbiston Drive, destroying the bin and its contents and damaging the surrounding area on June 21 last year.

Pointing out that the four offences admitted by his client last week all pre-dated the wilful fire-raising charge, McComish’s solicitor, Scott Adair, said his mental health at the time of the offending had been “somewhat difficult”.

Sheriff William Gallacher said: “These offences that are before me today were committed some time ago, and things may have moved on.”

The case was adjourned until April 7 for the preparation of a full background report. Bail was continued.