A man who told Police officers he would grab his gun and shoot them was jailed for two months at Magistrates' Court yesterday

The 27 year old, whose son wants to be a Police officer when he grows up, was arrested outside the Police Recreational Club late on Saturday night for swearing in public.

Loren Scott-Baxter, of no fixed abode, denied using obscene language and asked in court: "Is that a crime?"

He was also charged with assaulting an officer at the club and at the Hamilton Police Station and using threatening words.

Scott-Baxter denied all the charges and represented himself in court. He said he was simply trying to enter the club when bouncers stopped him. He questioned them why he was not allowed to enter when Police came up and arrested him for using obscene language.

P.c. Emmerson Carrington told the court that he saw the defendant swearing at a woman at 1.20 a.m. on December 4. He warned him to stop using obscene language to which the defendant replied: "F**k you Police. I don't give a f**k about you."

P.c. Carrington arrested him and brought him to Hamilton Police Station. While there the defendant appeared agitated and head-butted him in the interrogation room. Scott-Baxter attempted to argue that it was P.c. Carrington who head-butted him while cross examining an officer. However, he never mentioned it while giving his own evidence and P.c. Carrington's testimony regarding the assault was corroborated by another officer.

Scott-Baxter was found guilty of swearing in public and assaulting an officer and sentenced to seven days and two months in jail, respectively, for the charges.

While at the station Scott-Baxter's loose lips got him into more trouble. He told officers in the interrogation room "I'll grab my gun and shoot you!" When questioned about the whereabouts of the gun he replied: "Don't worry, it's buried some place safe."

Two officers testified that Scott-Baxter uttered the words. The defendant denied it but did say that an officer asked him where his gun was. Magistrate Juan Wolffe said it was highly unlikely that an officer would mention a gun if the defendant had not brought it up first. For threatening officers he received two months in jail.

Scott-Baxter was found not guilty of a fourth charge, assaulting P.c. Carrington at the Police Recreational Club. P.c. Carrington, and another officer, told the court that Scott-Baxter kicked him. However, their testimonies were not consistent over the position the defendant was in when entering the Police vehicle where it was alleged he kicked the officer. Mr. Wolffe said because of the inconsistent testimony he could not be sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the offence took place.

Scott-Baxter's three custodial sentences will run concurrently and Mr. Wolffe told him that he would have to sort out his authority issues while in jail, especially if he was correct in claiming his eight-year-old son wanted to be an officer.