A MAN sitting on a wall in Tranent “immediately jumped up” and tried to get over it when police stopped their vehicle beside him.

Bradley Colborne, 21, appeared from custody for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Tuesday after previously admitting twice assaulting police officers.

The court was told that the first assault took place when Colborne, of Hoprig Avenue, Blindwells, struck PC Owen Findlay to the head.

The court heard that Colborne was sitting on a wall at Winton Place when police officers on mobile patrol stopped their vehicle and attempted to speak to him on June 7 last year.

He was said to have “immediately jumped up and tried to get over the wall” in a bid to flee before the officers could talk to him, leading them to restrain the offender.

During the incident, Colborne attempted to punch PC Findlay and he was arrested and charged.

Racially abused officer

The second assault on an officer occurred last month, when Colborne approached a parked police vehicle and began “screaming at the officers inside” at about 1am on April 15.

The officers exited their vehicle and Colborne was said to have told them to “**** off” before claiming he was intending to harm himself.

The court was told that he was “intoxicated and emotional” at the time and that he also said to the officers: “Come near me and I will stab you.”

Colborne was then arrested after he had attempted to enter a moving vehicle and had kicked out at an officer at the town’s Bankpark Crescent; he was placed within a police van.

While being taken to St Leonard’s Police Station in Edinburgh, he then directed racist abuse towards one officer, including calling him “a black c***”, “a P*** c***” and saying: “You should go back to your own country.”

Lawyer Christopher McFarlane, representing Colborne, said that his client had “a fairly limited record” and that “he is realistic” that custody would be imposed.

Mr McFarlane said that last month’s assault took place after Colborne had been excessively consuming vodka and added that he continued to have his own tenancy at Blindwells.

Sheriff Roderick Flinn took into account that Colborne had spent 15 days on remand and sentenced him to a total of 82 days in custody.