Rapist in Bellshill went on the rampage with an axe in act of revenge

A convicted rapist armed himself with an axe and went seeking revenge after being attacked in a Bellshill street.
Hamilton SheriffHamilton Sheriff
Hamilton Sheriff

Richard Wotherspoon was seen "banging furiously" on a door with the weapon. His lawyer claimed he has been targeted numerous times since being jailed 16 years ago for a sex attack.

Wotherspoon, 32, described as a prisoner, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner in Dean Street on July 6. Hamilton Sheriff Court heard this week that five people attacked him days after he was released from prison after serving a sentence for domestic abuse.

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Neil Thomson, prosecuting, said: "Police officers found Wotherspoon in Dean Street with a head injury and suspected he’d been assaulted, but he did not provide them with any information. He was taken to hospital but wouldn't stay there despite being advised he needed further treatment.

"Later that evening Wotherspoon and another man were seen in the same street with an axe and a hammer. A witness challenged Wotherspoon who was banging furiously on the door of a flat with the axe.

"He told the witness 'I have no issue with you. I'm going to kill him'. There was no answer at the door after repeated knocking and shouting, and the accused and the other person then left."

Defence agent Diarmid Bruce told Sheriff Liam Murphy: "His High Court conviction from 2006 still causes him difficulty in the local area."

The sheriff jailed Wotherspoon for 18 months, backdated to July.