Inverness man who went out to celebrate birth of new baby ended night getting arrested

A man who was on a work-do and celebrating the birth of his baby ended his night out by getting arrested.

Lee Macleod (34) shouted and swore at his taxi driver on the way home from the Kingsmills Hotel before kicking the vehicle.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Macleod then told police officers to ‘f***-off’ after they were called on November 9, 2024.

Fiscal depute David Morton told Sheriff Gary Aitken that Macleod became aggressive after entering the taxi.

Mr Morton said: “The taxi driver on duty received a call for Mr Macleod and his girlfriend from the Kingsmills Hotel to a residential address.

“Mr Macleod was drunk and for some reason began to act aggressively towards the taxi driver, with his feet on the back seat.

“The taxi driver then stopped the vehicle on Stornoway Drive and Macleod’s partner told him to calm down.

“Macleod then got out of the car shouting and kicked the bumper of the vehicle but caused no damage.

“Police officers were called to deal with this and spoke to the taxi driver and others on Stornoway Drive and were shown mobile footage of the incident.

“Police officers traced him to Portree Terrace and tried to speak with him. He was very intoxicated and told them to ‘f***-off’ and inferred they had better things to do.

“He had been on a work’s night out and was arrested for the offences.”

Macleod of St Valery Avenue, Inverness, pled guilty to two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the taxi driver and police officers.

Sheriff Aitken fined him a total of £715.

Macleod’s defence solicitor Kevin Hughes said: “It was his first night out for a considerable time. It is no excuse for his behaviour, it’s disgraceful and he knows that.

“He is regretful about his behaviour.”