Robbie Gemmell: Dunbar man threatened to slit police officers' throats

Robbie Gemmell, 25, made the threat to constables after he had been arrested following an incident on West Road in Haddington last year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Gemmell also made homophobic comments to police while refusing to comply with requests to calm down.

On Tuesday, fiscal depute Matthew Miller said that police were called out to deal with “an ongoing disturbance” involving Gemmell at the town’s West Road at about 8.20pm on July 1 last year.

The fiscal said that Gemmell was “intoxicated” at the time and, while being spoken to by officers, he “repeatedly attempted to walk away from them”.

Gemmell, of Boroughdales, Dunbar, shouted “I’m not staying” and told the cops to “f*** off” before constables managed to get him under control.

Mr Miller told the court that Gemmell was “behaving in an aggressive and unruly manner” during the incident and continued to shout abuse while being put into the back of a police vehicle.

Robbie Gemmell outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court

The court heard that Gemmell’s behaviour included smashing his head against the inside of the police van and calling the officers “poofs”.

Gemmell also told the arresting officers he would “slit your f***ing throats” during his drunken outburst.

Solicitor Angela Craig, representing Gemmell, said that her client had been drinking on board a bus with a couple and, following an argument, he and the man got off at a stop in Haddington.

The friend’s girlfriend called the police following the row, leading to officers attending at the scene.

Ms Craig said that Gemmell admitted his conduct that evening had been “entirely unacceptable” and he was currently in a stable relationship and had a secure job with his father’s building business.

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Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss fined Gemmell a total of £640 to mark the offence.

Gemmell pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by acting aggressively, shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and offensive remarks at West Road, Haddington, and in the course of journey to St Leonard’s Police Station in Edinburgh on July 1 last year.

The offence was aggravated by prejudice to sexual orientation.

A plea of not guilty to assaulting PC Cara Miller by striking her to the body during the incident was accepted by prosecutors.

Gemmell was just 16 when he caused the deaths of school friends Joshua Stewart, 16, David Armstrong, 15, and 18-year-old Jenna Barbour when he lost control of a car and careered into a wall at Tyninghame in 2013.

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He initially denied being behind the wheel and claimed that Jenna had been driving but eventually broke down and confessed to his father as he lay in hospital recovering from his injuries.

Following his guilty plea, Gemmell was handed a four-year driving ban and an unpaid work order after admitting to a charge of causing the deaths of the three teenagers by driving without due care and attention.