COURT HORROR: SEX OFFENDER ATTEMPTS SELF-HARM DURING SENTENCING IN INVERNESS
An investigation was initiated after Robin Parker, a sex offender, caused a court incident by attempting to harm himself with a concealed knife in Inverness Sheriff Court.After being sentenced to 14 months for multiple charges including sexual assault, Parker, who uses crutches, purportedly struggled with court security.
As the judge was delivering his sentence, Parker, who appeared to have difficulty standing, suddenly drew a folding credit card-sized weapon from his clothing and pressed it to his neck, proclaiming, “I am not going to prison,” before drawing the blade across his throat.
A court solicitor then shouted, “He has got a knife!” which prompted security staff and police to intervene swiftly.
Multiple officers attempted to disarm him; Parker managed to make a second attempt before being subdued, suffering superficial cuts but not requiring hospital treatment.
The weapon was a small folding blade that did not trigger the metal detectors previously installed at the court.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as rapid and intense, with one stating, “He looked serious when he said he wasn’t going to prison and the second time he put the knife to his throat I had to look away because he was so determined.
I thought it was going to work and I couldn’t bear to watch a man slitting his own throat.” Police Scotland revealed Parker, aged 55, was in possession of an offensive weapon and would be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
The incident has raised concerns over court security, with calls for a comprehensive security review.
The incident follows Parker’s prior conviction for predatory behavior involving unwanted sexual conduct towards women, which included pushing a woman onto a bed and attempting to strip her, as well as targeting another woman with inappropriate offers and gestures.
During sentencing, Sheriff Sara Matheson described Parker’s offenses as “predatory in nature” and involving a breach of trust, emphasizing the seriousness of his conduct.
