A FULL petrol can and a threatening note were left outside a man’s home after an altercation.

Fraser Smith, formerly of Hepburn Road, Haddington, was involved in a road traffic incident with the unnamed man.

Afterwards, he decided to leave the can outside the man’s home at The Waggonway, Tranent.

However, rather than highly flammable fuel, the petrol can was found to be filled only with water.

Following the incident in May, the homeowner called in the police.

Smith, 30, had previously admitted the offence but had not been sentenced after he failed to show up for a previous hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

He appeared in the dock at the city court on Monday, where defence solicitor Andrew Mellor told the court that reports prepared on Smith “do not make for happy reading”.

Mr Mellor said that Smith suffered from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), which resulted in him having “difficulties in consequential thinking”, adding that he “simply doesn’t think straight on occasion”.

The solicitor added that Smith and the driver of the other vehicle had exchanged insurance details following the road incident and added that his client had recently moved to Gorebridge.

Sheriff John Cook said that Smith had committed “a serious offence” but acknowledged “the can only contained water and not petrol”.

Sheriff Cook said that “custody is merited in this case” but stopped short of jailing Smith and instead ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Smith admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by leaving a full petrol can and a note on the doorstep of an address at The Waggonway, Tranent, on May 24.