A DUNFERMLINE man who confronted his neighbours with a mallet and threatened to stab them after he claimed their television was too loud has jailed for six months.

Michael McCreadie turned up at the couple's William Street home shortly before 11pm and told them that if the noise wasn't reduced, he would hit them with a hammer and a pool cue and stab them.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, McCreadie, 46, had previously admitted that on October 18, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm by shouting, uttering threats of violence and repeatedly kicking a door.

In William Street, he also had a knife and offensive weapons in the shape of a mallet and a pool cue in a public place without reasonable excuse or authority.

The offences were committed while McCreadie was on bail.

Depute fiscal Jane Rennie said the witnesses lived in an adjacent block of flats to McCreadie and their homes were separated by a common wall.

They had had no previous contact with him and were watching television – at a volume they believed to be low – when they became aware that their front door was being kicked.

When they answered, they saw McCreadie, who was holding a metal-handled rubber mallet and appeared drunk and angry when making the threats.

"They quickly closed the door on the accused," said Ms Rennie. "The witnesses felt intimidated but did not call the police at this point."

Soon after, McCreadie came out of the flats and was seen hitting his own car. An anonymous phone call was made to police advising them a disturbance was going on in the street and that the person was armed with a mallet.

When charged with having an offensive weapon, he told police that his neighbour wanted to fight him so he was going to "give him a square go".

Solicitor Ian Beatson told the court his client said the neighbours had been playing music at loud levels on a "fairly regular basis" which had upset him and other neighbours.

"He had been drinking heavily that night," he said. "He has been drinking too much in an attempt to deal with mental health issues.

"He realises that was not the right way to deal with things. His mother had died at the end of December and his brother in January and he simply was not coping with the grief.

"He has had an impulsive reaction and has not thought matters through and appears not to have had very much insight into the consequences of his actions."

Sheriff Charles Macnair told McCreadie that he considered there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.

"You went round to your neighbour's door armed with a mallet," he told him. "You threatened to hit your neighbours with a mallet and a pool cue and stab them and at that time, you only had the mallet with you.

"You then went to your own house and returned to a public place armed with a pool cue and a knife and, in answer to caution and charge, you indicated that you were wanting to fight with your neighbour. That was in answer to you having offensive weapons so you were wanting to go and fight when armed with offensive weapons.

"Only a custodial sentence would reflect the very serious nature of this offending."