News / Fine for drunken Facebook death threat
A MAN from Lerwick who threatened to murder another man in a Facebook message has been fined £200.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday that Kevin Clark, of Commercial Road, made the threat when drunk in the belief that the man had assaulted his son.
The 50 year old admitted sending the message from his home on 6 August.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the message was an “act of drunken stupidity” and agreed that it could be described as an empty threat.
The fiscal said it was not clear if the message recipient did actually assault Clark’s son.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had been off work with an injured arm at the time and started to “dwell” his son’s assault.
Clark had to bury a well-loved pet dog on the day in question, which was being looked after by his separated wife, and he took to drink to help him cope.
Allan said his client, who did not personally know the victim, was “very apologetic” for his actions and tried to make amends on Facebook afterwards.
Sheriff Philipp Mann said the procurator fiscal used his “astute” experience to know the message was more of a “stupid drunken threat” than a genuine intention.
“If people had viewed it differently, you could have been in very serious trouble,” he said.
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