An IT worker sparked the evacuation of his street by threatening to blow up his house in a gas explosion after believing his relationship was over.
Thomas Currie mounted a two-hour stand-off with police and told them he was going to turn on the gas in his property and ignite it.
Cops rushed to evacuate neighbours and called out a gas engineer to shut off the supply to his home in Kirkliston near Edinburgh.
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Currie, 37, also kept police at bay by telling them he had samurai swords and would “chop” them.
After an armed response unit and police negotiator were called to the scene, officers managed to force entry and detain him.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told how Currie was in “a heightened emotional state” after believing his six-year romance had ended.
Defence agent Calum Turner said his client accepted he acted “completely disproportionately” during the terrifying late-night incident.
Mr Turner said police were called to the address after Currie and his partner had an argument and his car was allegedly damaged.
The solicitor said Currie faced an uncertain future in his £70,000-a-year role at his firm, which provides IT services to Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
Currie appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday and pled guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Fiscal depute Zoe Inkster said officers arrived at Currie’s home in response to a “disturbance” and found him “highly agitated and refusing to engage”.
Ms Inkster said Currie demanded to speak to a female officer then later “told them he had several samurai swords and would chop any officer who came into the property”.
The court was told Currie was shouting from the windows at the cops before telling them he’d switch on his gas and cause an explosion.
Ms Inkster said constables evacuated properties in the residential cul-de-sac and a gas engineer was called out to assist.
She said Currie then came out to his driveway carrying a knife and shouted, “Come on then”.
Cops drew their PAVA spray - a device similar to pepper spray - and instructed Currie to drop the blade.
Currie dropped the knife, the court heard, and ran back into his house.
He appeared at a window again, wielding another knife, and made further threats.
Ms Inkster said officers with pubic order training, an armed response unit and police negotiators arrived and entry to the property was forced.
Mr Turner said Currie and his partner had been through a “difficult time” and he believed the “relationship was at an end” following their bust-up on July 6 last year.
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His client believed police were being “hostile” towards him and used “shock tactics” to try and get them to leave, he added.
Mr Turner said the couple had reconciled and were still together, while Currie’s behaviour was “completely out of character”.
The solicitor said there may be “further consequences” for Currie’s job as background checks are required for some of his IT work.
Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said Currie no doubt regretted his actions while under “emotional distress” but added: “Your behaviour was really beyond the pale.”
The sheriff said the evacuation of his neighbours late at night must’ve been “terrifying” for any children and “hugely disruptive”.
He fined Currie £1425.
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