A 40-year-old man with a string of previous convictions, including break-ins in Paisley, has been jailed for 12 months after he was seen waving a pair of scissors around in a Barrhead street.
James Struthers appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court, where he admitted having the scissors, which had a four-inch blade, without a reasonable excuse.
The court heard that at around 5.30pm on Thursday, 2 July, Struthers was in Aurs Glen, Barrhead, waving the scissors around while stabbing a plastic bag and “looking quite manic”.
A local resident called the police, concerned about what he intended to do and believing his erratic behaviour could be linked to his mental health.
Officers arrived immediately, found Struthers in the street and handcuffed him. The scissors were recovered when his bag, which had been left on the pavement, was searched.
After being taken to Govan police office, he became incoherent and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for tests before being returned to custody a short time later.
Sheriff Bruce Erroch imposed a 16-month sentence, reduced to 12 months to reflect his early guilty plea. It has been backdated to 3 July, when he was first remanded.
The court was told Struthers, who was described as a prisoner at Low Moss, has a “long and entrenched difficulty with alcohol and drugs”.
He was previously jailed for 18 months after a series of offences in 2025. In June that year he was caught at Barrhead Cross with a knife with a 16cm blade. In July, he broke into a home in Paisley’s Love Street, where he stole a laptop, keys, an air fryer and a bag containing car keys and a wallet.
The following day he broke into a flat in Paisley High Street, taking clothing and a wallet, and tried to break into the council’s drugs and alcohol services building on Back Sneddon Street.