Courts in Moray: Jay Mackintosh, who has lived in Forres, jailed for armed police siege in Buckie

A man whose erratic behaviour led to a six-hour police siege in Moray has been jailed for a further 15 months.

Jay Mackintosh appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court today where he also pleaded guilty to a long list of other offences.

These involved stamping to death a pair of seagull chicks, drink driving, theft and assault.

The stand-off with the police began at 3.30am on January 24 after the 21-year-old rang for an ambulance because he thought he'd broken his ankle.

Mackintosh was advised to make his own way to hospital as the service was stretched.

He replied that if an ambulance didn't come he would slit his wrists.

When the medical crew arrived at Lawson Place in Buckie they found the front door locked.

From inside Mackintosh shouted: "That had better not be the police."

Told there were no police there, he responded: "Well, I'm coming to the door with a knife anyway."

The two crew members retreated to their ambulance and rang the police.

When officers arrived at the scene at 5.30am they were advised by area control not to approach the defendant.

Then, at 6.30am, the situation was upgraded to a firearms incident.

The road was closed off and members of the public were advised to stay inside their homes.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard that several neighbours were left shocked as they woke up to find armed officers in the street outside.

Mackintosh, meanwhile, was acting angrily and aggressively.

He racially abused two officers who tried to speak to him, asking one of them: "Why can't you speak English?"

At other points during the stand-off he also shouted: "Shoot me, shoot me", as well as, "I'm going to break your jaw".

A total of 10 firearms officers were among the 35 police who attended the scene, along with three ambulances.

As the morning went on the decision was taken to enter the house.

Inside the property, but from behind police shields, negotiators continued to talk to Mackintosh who was eventually persuaded to surrender peacefully at 11.25am.

The defendant was found to be unarmed.

Commenting, Sheriff Peter Grant-Hutchison said: "The only saving grace – and it's not much of a saving grace – is that he wasn't harmed."

Mackintosh was listed in the court papers as having formerly lived at three different addresses in Buckie and another in Forres.

However he appeared in court via a video call from Inverness Prison where he is now serving a jail term for a different matter.

In addition to charges relating to the siege Mackintosh also pleaded guilty today to being unfit to drive due to drink or drugs.

This related to an incident upon the A941 road between Elgin to Rothes road, which was reported by a member of the public.

The police traced the vehicle to Mackintosh and called round later that same evening – November 24, 2020.

He refused to co-operate with a breath test, instead telling the officer to, "go xxxxxx your dead dad".

Another charge saw Mackintosh admit that he had assaulted his mum's partner on September 4, 2021.

In addition, he pleaded guilty to shoplifting two bottles of vodka from the East Church Street branch of the Co-op in Buckie, on January 26 this year.

He also admitted stealing a £200 jacket from someone he knew two days later on January 28.

Mackintosh told the man that he liked his jacket and was thinking of buying one like it.

He asked to try it on but then refused to give it back, along with a £10 note and a £20 phone charger that were in the pockets.

Mackintosh's demeanour was described as having changed from "friendly" to "intimidating".

The final charges related to June 17 this year and a property in Wallis Avenue, Buckie.

The court heard that Mackintosh had become enraged when he couldn't find a dental plate containing his false teeth.

A neighbour became so concerned by all the noise he was making that they contacted the police.

Mackintosh then went outside, jumped over a fence and headed off.

However he returned not long afterwards and began banging on the door.

He was heard to shout that he couldn't go back to Forres without his teeth.

At this point Mackintosh was seen to begin repeatedly stamping on a group of three seagull chicks nearby, killing two of them.

When the police arrived they saw blood both on his trainers and on his hands

On being questioned later, he laughed and replied: "I don't give a xxxx about those birds. I stomped on those birds."

Defence solicitor Stephen Carty said that experts had come to the view that Mackintosh was not suffering from mental health problems.

However, the lawyer added, his client had undergone a difficult upbringing and that the misuse of drugs and alcohol had been a constant factor in all the offences.

Sheriff Grant-Hutchison sentenced Mackintosh to a further 15 months on top of the jail term he is currently serving.