iStockA man held his terrified neighbour hostage amid claims he had accused him of being “a beast”.
Alfie McCann, 49, lay in wait for the victim outside flats in Hurlford, Ayrshire, on April 29 last year.
During a two-hour ordeal, the 26-year-old was forced back into his home at knifepoint, bound and gagged, and also threatened with a hammer.
McCann threatened at one stage: “I will slit your throat.”
The victim was only rescued after his partner dialled 999, having watched Ring doorbell footage of their neighbour initially tackling her boyfriend outside.
It later emerged McCann may have been eavesdropping on his neighbours after he tried to saw a hole in his ceiling to the couple’s flat above shortly before he struck.
He admitted to a charge of abduction and assault.
McCann will be sentenced next month.
The victim was ambushed around 8am when he went out to his car to go to work.
He had become aware of McCann standing beside bins while clutching a hammer and a snood partially covering his face.
The assailant then grabbed his neighbour and shoved him back towards the door of the flats.
The victim shouted back: “What is the problem? Alfie, what is wrong?”
The men struggled outside on the path before McCann also brandished a knife.
He ordered the man inside so he could “talk” with him.
Prosecutor Anna Chisholm told the High Court in Glasgow: “The victim felt threatened, scared and confused by McCann’s conduct.”
McCann got the victim into a bedroom, forced him to turn round and put his arms behind his back.
Ms Chisholm said: “He tightly applied handcuffs and cable ties to his wrists.
“As the incident progressed, his wrists and hands became more painful. He felt the blood being cut off to them.”
The ordeal then saw McCann wrap duct tape around the victim’s mouth and nose.
The victim pleaded that he could not breathe.
McCann eventually pulled away some of the tape. The man said if his neighbour was after money that there was cash in a drawer.
But McCann instead ordered the victim to the ground and then used more cable ties to bind his legs together.
Advocate depute Ms Chisholm explained: “He again asked McCann what this was all about.
“McCann said it was because he and his partner had accused him of being ‘a beast’.
“The victim was troubled by this. He believed McCann must have been listening to their conversations, as he had only ever spoken about him in his flat.
“He and his partner had discussed him being the ‘weird guy’.”
The court heard McCann had moved in less than a year earlier. Within weeks, he had reported his neighbours for apparently “drilling holes” into his flat.
They had insisted this was lies. The couple went on to call the council after the cables to their broadband were cut.
The victim’s partner was at work and got an alert on her phone from their Ring doorbell.
She then watched a clip of McCann, armed with a knife, struggling with her boyfriend, and she called the police.
Officers initially got no answer, but then checked McCann’s flat.
They got in as the door was unlocked.
Ms Chisholm: “They observed a ladder inside a cupboard which extended to the ceiling.
“On the ceiling was a makeshift hatch which appeared that it may lead into the couple’s flat above.
“There was also a large grinder tool with a diamond cutting blade.”
The court heard the ceiling had been cut into, but not enough to breach the floor above.
Officers returned to the victim’s door and spotted him through the frosted glass, “crashing” to the bottom of the stairs.
The police yelled that they would force entry. McCann tried to prevent them while he also held the knife at the terrified victim’s neck.
A cordon was then set up around the area, and firearms officers were called.
McCann told the victim, “If they come through the door, you will get it first, then they will get it.”
He added he would “slit” the young man’s throat. As the victim begged for mercy, the McCann stated he “did not want it to come to this”.
He then went on to speak of issues at his former work and apparently having his social media hacked.
He eventually backed off, cut the cable ties and surrendered himself to police.
The victim was described as “visibly distressed and upset”. He was found to have scratches, cuts and bruises, but did not go to hospital.
McCann, now of Kilmarnock, had been on bail, but was remanded in custody.
He was warned by Judge Lord Arthurson that he is facing a “substantial” jail term.
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