AN AYRSHIRE man has been jailed for attempting to stab a man in Kilmarnock earlier this year.

Alistair Paterson also went on to make threats to police officers after being taken to Crosshouse Hospital following his arrest.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges in relation to the matter which took place on March 2 this year when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.

Paterson, described as a prisoner at HMP Kilmarnock, admitted assaulting a man on Western Road in the town as well as being in possession of a knife in the same street and Archibald Craig Place.

He also made guilty pleas to a pair of charges in relation behaving in a threatening or abusive manner - first in Archibald Craig Place and then Crosshouse Hospital.

The incident began at around 11.30am on the day in question, procurator fiscal depute Chris Munro told the court.

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Paterson had been with his partner at an address in Western Road when he left the property to go to the Asda supermarket.

It was a few hours later that he returned to the home, at which point he was intoxicated. After noticing this, his partner then told him to leave leading to a "minor argument" outside the property.

At this stage, the woman's brother - who was staying at a house across the road - heard his sister's raised voice so came over in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

Paterson then ran at him with a knife – which he had taken from the kitchen when the 34-year-old was briefly inside – and lunged towards the man, cutting part of his clothing.

After the altercation, the Kilmarnock prisoner walked away along Western Road in the directions of Archibald Craig Place.

In doing so, he was observed walking along the roadway causing some traffic to take evasive action by a member of the public walking nearby.

They also noticed that Paterson was in possession of a knife, so alerted police of the situation.

Police attended and he was traced walking towards other members of the public, who the court were informed, he told he would “slash”.

Paterson was then arrested and taken by police to Crosshouse Hospital on an unrelated matter. Upon his arrival he became aggressive and made threats to police officers.

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He said: “Open this cell door and I will bite your noses off. I will f***ing kill you. I don’t care if you have a wife and kids.”

Paterson was then taken inside the hospital to the busy waiting area to allow him to use the toilet – which he then refused to do.

He told officers he was going to kick off so they tried to detain him though he was tensing and flailing at this time – before eventually being taken back to the cell van.

The 34-year-old was later charged and made his first court appearance on March 4 this year. He has been remanded in custody since then.

Defending, solicitor Neil McPherson said that Paterson "knows he is going to prison".

He also admitted that his previous offences convictions “can be counted in pages rather than convictions”.

Though he asked Sheriff Colin Bissett to consider that his client had pleaded guilty at an early stage - which would have been even sooner if not for a sticking point over the agreed plea.

Mr McPherson continued: "This is a man who seems to have trouble dealing with his emotions. When mixed with alcohol he has extreme trouble.

"On the day in question, he was behaving properly. He had offered to steam clean his partner's carpet and had left to go buy material, then took a few pints of alcohol."

The solicitor also stated that, although shouting was heard by the brother of Paterson's partner, that the altercation was not an aggressive one.

However, he added: “Both are very fortunate this incident ended the way it did. He is only one step away from a much more serious charge and a very different outcome for both of them.”

Sheriff Bisset said: “This is a disgraceful incident. You have assaulted a witness in an unprovoked attack. Clearly there is no alternative but the imposition of a custodial sentence.”

Paterson was then sentenced to spend a total of 24 months in prison, backdated to his initial remand on March 4.