A TILLICOULTRY man has admitted wasting police time in an ill-fated attempt to get his jacket back from a night club.

Ronald Temprell (27), of Weavers Way, called the emergency 999 number on 30 March 2014, shortly after being ejected from Klub 21 in Alloa.

Temprell – who was once prosecuted for riding a stolen horse home from a drunken night out when he couldn’t get a taxi, as reported in the Advertiser in 2013 – told the call handler that he was an off-duty police officer and that he need assistance to deal with an ongoing disturbance on Bank Street.

Officers were then dispatched while CCTV stations spotted the accused talking on his mobile phone.

Police arrived to find ‘very few’ people in the vicinity and later traced the accused who was standing nearby.

Claire McCarron, defending, said: “The background is that Mr Temprell has out that evening and after consuming a lot of alcohol was ejected from the premises.

“An altercation then ensued and he tried to get back into the club to retrieve his jacket which remained inside.

“It is for this reason that he initially contacted the police and he is ashamed of the pretence he used.” She added: “Having listened to the recording, it is quite clear that the operator knew from the outset that he was not talking to an off duty police officer.” Sheriff David Mackie, presiding, took the view that Temprell had been engaging well a current community payback order and ruled that he be monitored for the next three months.

He also asked for updated criminal justice social work reports and admonished him on a charge of failing to appear at Alloa Sheriff Court on 23 September 2014.