Scots history buff used an eight foot long weapon to destroy neighbour’s CCTV cameras
A HISTORY buff used an eight foot long weapon from the Battle of Culloden to destroy her neighbour’s CCTV cameras.
Fuming Brenda Barratt chopped the cables of the surveillance kit attached to a house facing her home in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, using a halberd.
The 61-year-old admitted wielding the massive battlefield artefact last used in anger more than 270 years ago.
When the deadly device was held upright in Kilmarnock Sheriff Court there were gasps of astonishment in the public gallery.
Sheriff Colin Bissett said: “It’s not really something someone should be carrying around in public.”
Barratt pleaded guilty to the wrecking spree before begging the court not to destroy her antique battleaxe.
Depute fiscal Ali Roy told the court there had been “ongoing issues” between Barratt and her neighbour Kenneth Clarke in the months leading up to the incident on June 13 this year.
She said: “At around ten past seven Mr Clarke heard the sound of banging coming from outside the locus.
“He went downstairs to observe the accused locking her front door.
“He reviewed the CCTV cameras and noticed that one of the CCTV cameras was facing towards the ground.”
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The worried neighbour then noticed both cameras were “dangling from the wires”.
He then looked at the footage which showed the accused “crossing the property in possession of the halberd” and “striking both CCTV cameras”.
Cops were called and efforts were made to trace Barratt who it transpired had locked herself inside her first floor pad.
A search warrant was obtained and officers later found Barratt in possession of an ancient weapon which, the court heard, dates back to the iconic 1746 scrap.
The infamous clash saw Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops swept aside in a decisive defeat that brought an end to the Jacobite rising.
Barratt admitted repeatedly striking the cameras “using a halberd or similar instrument” during the incident in the town’s Dalry Road.
She also pleaded guilty to being in possession of the “bladed” or “sharply pointed” weapon at her home on the same date.
Barratt’s defence solicitor Paul McCormick told the court the properties were side by side, with front doors facing each other.
Barratt’s neighbours had fitted the cameras above their front door pointing towards Barratt’s home and parts of her garden.
He said: “Ms Barratt is the owner occupier of her property and the complainers are tenants.”
She had contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office about the position of these CCTV cameras which she regarded as “intrusive surveillance”.
The matter was referred to the police who advised Barratt it was “a civil matter”.
Explaining the reason for his client having the enormous pike, Mr McCormick said: “The halberd had been used at the Battle of Culloden and Ms Barratt is interested in history.
“She is a member of the covenanters in Ayrshire.”
Bail conditions meant she had not been allowed to return home and had been staying in a mobile home as well as using a relative’s property in England as a bail address.
He added: “She is the owner of a mobile home and has been staying most of the last three months in that home.
“She is keen to return to her home address.”
Mr McCormick opposed a Crown motion for forfeiture of the halberd and made the court aware of Barratt’s wishes to have the weapon returned.
However if Barratt couldn’t have it back she asked that it should not be destroyed and perhaps given to a museum for safekeeping.
Mr McCormick added: “It’s a very unusual set of circumstances.”
Sheriff Bissett deferred sentence for three months for Barratt to be of good behaviour and also gave the weapon’s fate a stay of execution.
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