Inverness man jailed for ‘terrifying’ knife incident that saw mum and children confronted by home intruder

A knife-wielding intruder who subjected a family to a terrifying ordeal in their Inverness flat has been jailed for 30 months.

Sheriff Sara Matheson also ordered 22 year old Ellis Williams to be supervised by social workers for a further year after his release from prison "to protect the public", she told Inverness Sheriff Court.

Williams must also take part in a substance misuse rehabilitation programme after his solicitor advocate Shahid Latif said that the abuse of sustances was a problem for his client who had "developmental disorders."

At an earlier hearing, the court heard that the woman and her children were confronted by Williams in their kitchen in Riverside Court on the evening of August 29, 2024.

Williams, designated as an Inverness prisoner, appeared to be under the influence of something.

When the kitchen door was slammed shut on him to allow the children to escape, he began shouting and swearing and stabbing it with his knife.

The distraught mother shouted for help from neighbours, police were called and a neighbour came to help.

But Williams confronted him and the woman's son and lunged at one of them, with the knife scraping his jacket without causing injury.

Williams was able to be disarmed and the flat door was held shut, trapping him inside until police arrived, the court was told.

Williams then chained the door shut, became verbally aggressive and threatened to harm the officers and their families before throwing a toaster and damaging a window.

However police managed to get him out of the flat when some of his acquaintances arrived.

Williams admitted threatening behaviour and possession of a knife.

His sentence was backdated to August 30 when he was remanded.

Sheriff Matheson told Williams: "This was a terrifying event for all those involved and occurred in a domestic environment when you were a stranger to them."