A thug who shouted "f**k the Queen " during a violent rampage hours after being freed early from prison has been sentenced to 32 months behind bars.
Ross Cossans attacked a random stranger, brawled with doctors and threatened to rape female police officers shortly after being released more than a year early from jail. Cossans started rampaging across Perth immediately after being released from the city's maximum security prison after serving just half of his sentence.
He was jailed in 2020 for a number of crimes including hurling a dog across a room after threatening to slit its throat during a domestic dispute with his partner.
Sheriff William Wood said: "Clearly there is not much that can be said in mitigation. This was a sustained assault and, given your record, only a further period of custody is appropriate.
"These were all very unpleasant events and would indeed have caused police officers some real concern."
Fiscal depute Marie Lyons told Perth Sheriff Court : "He has five convictions at sheriff and jury level including for attempted robbery. In all of them he got prison sentences of 18 months to two years.
"He was released from Perth Prison on 1 November 2021 on early release, as it was not due to expire until 2023."
Mrs Lyons told the court that the following morning he engaged Aaron Watt in conversation by asking if he knew where he could buy drugs in Perth. He then launched an unprovoked attack on Mr Watt by putting him in a choke hold before dragging them both to the ground and punching his victim in the eye.
A passing driver stopped and sounded her horn, which brought a brief pause to the attack, before Cossans "continued to rain punches" to Mr Watt's head.
"She began to film the incident as Mr Watt shouted for help. Mr Watt said he was being attacked. The accused stopped the assault and walked away."
Cossans was arrested the following day but broke free and offered £1,000 to passers-by if they would help him to evade re-capture by the police. At the police station he claimed to have swallowed 12 grams of heroin so he was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary to be treated as an emergency case.
He told staff his cousin from Gibraltar would come armed to take revenge for him, before causing so much disruption children had to be moved out of the ward for their safety.
Cossans, 28, from Aberdeen, said: "When I get a razor out of my ar**, I'm going to skin the lot of you. F**k the Queen. I'll rape you, you old fat s**t."
He managed to push past police and doctors and ran off out of the hospital and was caught trying to clamber over a wall while wearing rigid handcuffs. Medical staff had to help police officers wrestle Cossans to the ground. He was then taken to police HQ in Dundee where he continued to issue sinister threats.
He told police: "I'm going to cut your throats. I hope you get raped. When I get out I'm going to burn your maw's house." He spat on two officers.
Cossans, a prisoner at Perth, admitted a total of seven charges on 2 and 3 November 2021 when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court.
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