Man cleared of reckless fire extinguisher act

By Gordon Darroch, @synthjock

A 22-year-old man has been cleared of a charge of throwing a fire extinguisher in a nightclub after the Crown dropped the case against him.

John McMahon, of Lochmaben Road, Gartcosh, had denied the charge of culpably and recklessly throwing the extinguisher towards a group of people at the Campus nightclub on Sauchiehall Street on March 20 last year.

After Sheriff Linda Ruxton queried why it had taken nearly a year to bring the case, procurator-fiscal Dorothy Roy said the Crown would not pursue the complaint further.

Mrs Roy initially asked to have the trial adjourned after two witnesses who were due to give evidence against McMahon failed to appear.

McMahon’s lawyer told Sheriff Ruxton that his client was anxious to put the case behind him because he had a job interview lined up which could be jeopardised if he faced outstanding court proceedings.

After a short adjournment while the procurator-fiscal made enquiries by phone, it emerged that the witnesses had not arrived at court because their citations had not been delivered.

Sheriff Ruxton asked Mrs Roy if she wanted to continue with the case, noting that McMahon had first appeared in court back in April last year.

The court was told that some of the delay had occurred because responsibility for the case had been transferred from one Strathclyde Police division to another.

“There are certain issues which have been raised by the defence. Is this a case where you are insisting on prosecution?” the sheriff said.

“It doesn’t on the face of it look to be a particularly serious matter. I’m concerned about what has been said about disclosure and interviews, and an adjournment would normally take this into mid-June.”

Mrs Roy said the Crown would not be pursuing the case further and McMahon, after 10 months of legal proceedings, left the court a free man.

 

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