RICHARD WOTHERSPOON SENTENCED IN BELLSHILL AFTER AXE-RELATED INCIDENT

A convicted rapist armed himself with an axe and sought revenge after being assaulted in a street in Bellshill. Richard Wotherspoon was observed intensely banging on a door with the weapon. His lawyer stated that he has been targeted multiple times since serving a 16-year prison sentence for a sex attack. Wotherspoon, 32, who is described as a prisoner, admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on Dean Street on July 6.

The case was heard this week at Hamilton Sheriff Court, where it was revealed that Wotherspoon was attacked by five individuals shortly after being released from prison. He had been serving time for domestic abuse prior to the incident.

Prosecutor Neil Thomson explained: "Police officers found Wotherspoon in Dean Street with a head injury and suspected he had been assaulted, but he did not provide any information." Although taken to hospital, Wotherspoon refused to stay despite being advised he required further treatment.

Later that evening, Wotherspoon and another man were seen on the same street wielding an axe and a hammer. A witness approached him as he was pounding furiously on a flat door with the axe. Wotherspoon reportedly told the witness, "I have no issue with you. I'm going to kill him." After repeated knocking and shouting went unanswered, Wotherspoon and the other individual left the scene.

His defence lawyer, Diarmid Bruce, noted that Wotherspoon had sustained a broken finger and needed stitches in his mouth after being struck with a shovel earlier that evening. Bruce told Sheriff Liam Murphy: "His High Court conviction from 2006 still causes him difficulty in the local area. He is taunted and targeted because of it and has been assaulted numerous times. Individuals use it as an excuse to cause him difficulties."

Wotherspoon was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with the sentence backdated to July.