Stephen Cruz jailed for threats sent to police
A man who sent threatening messages to police in a bid to get his former girlfriend's new partner into trouble has been jailed.
The threats Stephen Cruz, 34, admitted sending included that First Minister Alex Salmond's throat would be cut, and comments about the Queen.
Cruz used a form on the Police Scotland website to send messages in the other man's name.
He was jailed for a year at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Cruz also mentioned letter bombs, leading to many police officers having to investigate.
Sheriff Graeme Napier told him: "This is a very, very worrying offence.
"You have shown a complete an utter disregard, not only for the law, but also for a fellow human being that you tried to implicate in this.
"It beggars belief.
"The seriousness must be marked by a custodial sentence."
Defence agent Stuart Flowerdew said his client had taken the breakdown of his relationship with his former girlfriend badly.
He said: "He chose to focus on the new boyfriend of the woman.
"He said he wanted to make that person see what it was like to lose everything."
Cruz sent the messages between January and March while travelling between Peterhead and Aberdeen.