Curfew for man who failed to ‘shut up and go away’

A man caught shouting and swearing near one of the accommodation barges berthed in the town has been warned to expect custody if he steps out of line again.

Trevor Couper was ordered to comply with a night-time curfew when he appeared from custody before sheriff Philip Mann today.

Couper, 20, of Lerwick’s Cairnfield Road admitted breaching the peace at the town’s Esplanade shortly after 1am this morning.

Police had been on a routine patrol when they saw Couper in the midst of a disturbance. Security personnel from a barge were trying to keep two groups of men apart.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Couper had been swearing constantly and making threats after drinking six pints.

The court heard Couper’s rate of offending had dropped. However that failed to impress the fiscal, who called for an order to be granted which would have prevented Couper from being drunk in public.

“He [Couper] makes a choice to go out and get drunk and cause trouble. He chooses to go out and to try and portray as some huge achievement that he has reduced his rate of offending, I don’t see that as any great achievement.”

Defence agent Tommy Allan admitted Couper found it hard to stop speaking when he got excited, which had been what landed him in trouble.

“His position is, he was grabbed by one member of the other group. When the police arrived they told him to shut up and go away, but he didn’t do that.”

He added that Couper, who is pinning his hopes on future work on a freezer boat, had already spent a night in the cells for his “mouthiness”.

Sheriff Mann stopped short of imposing a condition over alcohol. However he ordered him to stay indoors between 7pm and 7am while a background report is compiled in time for 14th November.

“If you appear from custody again during bail on a charge of this nature you will just be remanded.”