Paranoid drug user tried to murder three police officers with crossbow

A paranoid drug user who tried to murder three armed police officers in a crossbow attack has been jailed for four years.

Michael Ley, 35, fired five or six bolts from the weapon as officers took cover behind a vehicle during the attack.

A judge told Ley that he acknowledged he has expressed remorse for his actions and added: “Perhaps the most important mitigating factor is that you now accept that you cannot use cannabis again.”

Lord Stuart ordered at the High Court in Edinburgh that Ley should be under supervision in the community for a further five years when he will be on licence and can be returned to prison if he breaches its terms.

The judge said that he would have faced a six-year jail term but that would be discounted following his guilty plea.

Ley earlier admitted assaulting the three officers, then in the execution of their duty, by repeatedly discharging a crossbow towards them to the danger of life and attempting to murder them on March 14 this year.

He subsequently maintained it was not his intention to hurt anyone despite firing the bolts towards the officers deployed at his home in Dundee.

The court heard that a community mental health nurse who earlier met Ley wanted him to go to hospital and sought assistance from police and efforts were made to negotiate with him.

Advocate depute Chris Jones said: “After a prolonged period of engagement, the accused exhibited a sudden and immediate change of intent. He stepped forward to his window and fired several crossbow bolts towards firearms officers A11, D11 and F11, who were in position around a police vehicle.

“A11 heard the sound of bolts being fired through the air past his head. A crossbow bolt struck the police vehicle directly in front of officers A11, D11 and F11, which they were using for cover. One bolt struck the police vehicle directly in front of officers A11, D11 and F11.

“One bolt passed close by over F11’s head, striking the ground or a fence behind him. When F11 lifted his head he saw the accused pointing a crossbow directly in his direction. F11 returned fire with a single live round,” said the prosecutor.

He said a second officer returned fire using a non-lethal round and added: “All considered the accused posed a risk to life.”

The prosecutor said that while Ley was firing bolts from a window at Earlston Avenue, Dundee, other police officers made an emergency entry to the property using flashbang grenades and detained Ley in a bedroom.

They saw a sword and a large knife lying on the bed and recovered two crossbows.

The court heard that Ley was previously assessed in 2009 to have a drug-induced psychosis or drug-induced depressive psychosis.

Mr Jones said: “In the week preceding March 14 the accused’s mental health had deteriorated. He had not been taking his medication and had been consuming cannabis.”

On March 13, he contacted police over concerns that there were people outside his home with a petrol can who wanted to cause him harm. When the community nurse arrived the following day he found him showing signs of paranoia and psychosis. The nurse asked Ley to come to hospital but he refused.

The nurse became concerned about his state and information that he had multiple weapons and police were contacted. When they arrived he told officers he did not want to harm anyone, but refused to leave his bedroom and barricaded himself in.

After the incident he said: “I didn’t attempt to murder anyone. I was suicidal. I just wanted to die that day.”

Defence solicitor advocate James Laverty said Ley had “a chronic cannabis addiction” which he was suffering from in the months leading up to the offence.

He said Ley had also stopped taking his prescribed medication after reaching the view that he was being poisoned.

Mr Laverty said that Ley has made good use of his time in custody and told him that he was now drug free. He added: “He acknowledges that he cannot use cannabis again.”