A FORMER community councillor who threatened to buy a gun and attend the next meeting of Selkirk Community Council to shoot three named members has been jailed for a total of 16 months.
Nikolaus Wirsten was found guilty after a trial of committing a breach of the peace by making the threats during an interview with two social workers compiling background reports for the court.
The social workers were so concerned for the safet
y of the community councillors that they telephoned the police after the interview.
The 56-year-old, who lives with his elderly parents in Leslie Place and recently failed to be re-elected to the community council, had already admitted desecrating the gravestone of Councillor Kenneth Gunn's teenage son and vandalising his car.
He was also awaiting sentence for sending offensive emails and letters to three members of Scottish Borders Council, Selkirk community councillors and a police officer.
Following the guilty verdict after a late sitting at Selkirk Sheriff Court on Tuesday evening, a wide range of sentences were imposed on Wirsten aimed at monitoring him following his release from prison.
He was jailed for 12 months for the threats and offensive emails, and was given another four months to run consecutively for spray painting the gravestone in Shawfield Cemetery, Selkirk.
In addition, Sheriff Kevin Drummond imposed a sentence of 12 months' supervised release, a two-year criminal antisocial behaviour order, and put Wirsten's name on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
Wirsten had denied committing a breach of the peace at the SBC offices in Paton Street, Galashiels, on October 28, by placing the social workers in a state of fear and alarm with the gun threats.
During the trial his lawyer Mark Harrower put it to the prosecution witnesses that Wirsten had been "winding up" the social workers and that the threats were made during a private meeting behind closed doors where the public had no access, so it did not constitute a breach of the peace.
But Mr Harrower's 'no case to answer' submission was rejected by the sheriff who delivered a guilty verdict on the breach of the peace charge.
The trial heard evidence from social worker Morag Campbell, 38, who described Wirsten as "quite anxious" and "difficult" during the interview on October 28, which was also attended by senior social worker Steven Thomson.
Ms Campbell said that she had asked Wirsten at the end of the interview if he had any questions and he enquired why they were not getting a psychiatrist's report as well as a psychologist's report.
She said: "He felt he was suffering from some kind of mental illness. He went on to say that he had thoughts of suicide on a daily basis, and that he had thoughts of obtaining a gun and shooting people with that gun.
"What he did say was that he would go along to the next Selkirk Community Council meeting and shoot three of them (councillors Wilma Gunn, John Munro and Alistair Pattullo). He would then shoot himself. He also said he would not waste any bullets.
"I was quite shocked at this. I felt nervous and worried at that stage."
Ms Campbell said that her colleague Mr Thomson warned Wirsten at this point he was committing an offence.
She said that Wirsten's reply was that he would need to go to prison first to get information on buying a gun as the Borders was gun-crime free.
Ms Campbell continued: "I was concerned at what he might do after he left the meeting. I felt I had to do something about it."
She said that after discussions with colleagues it was agreed to call the police.
During cross-examination, Ms Campbell said Wirsten had described how he would pay £800 for a second-hand gun and six bullets and more than £1,000 for a new gun with seven bullets. The trial later heard that when Wirsten was searched by police he was in possession of £700 in cash.
Mr Thomson was asked whether he thought Wirsten was on the "wind-up", but he replied: "I had concerns about the potential harm to the public. It (the interview) is not a good environment to make a joke."
Detective constable Charles Hardie said that Wirsten repeated the gun claims during the police interview. He said that Wirsten named all 12 members of Selkirk Community Council and said that three of them – councillors Gunn, Pattullo and Munro – "hated him" and "they were the three he would shoot".
Wirsten had been on deferred sentence for a number of offences until the outcome of the trial. When already on bail for sending offensive emails to SBC councillor Kenneth Gunn, Wirsten desecrated the grave of Councillor Gunn's teenage son by spray painting.
Cameron Gunn, 19, collapsed and died while playing five-a-side football in 1991.
Wirsten also admitted to vandalising councillor Gunn's car parked outside his home by spray painting the windows on September 14.
On the same complaint Wirsten had pleaded guilty to a third charge of breaching a bail order by approaching the workplace of the council's former chairman.
