AN ALLOA man cut off his monitoring device a day early in an act of “utter stupidity”.

As a result, 32-year-old Conor Preston, of Maree Court, was back in the dock at Alloa Sheriff Court where he admitted breaching his restriction of liberty order.

The six-month "tag" was imposed after Preston sent threatening messages on Facebook to someone he barely knew.

At the original sentencing, defence solicitor Michael Lowrie said the offence had an “element of the ridiculous about it”, given that his client did not really know those involved.

When Preston appeared for the breach, Mr Lowrie described the incident as “utter stupidity”.

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He said: “This was around 24 hours before the order was due to expire. He says he was told by a social worker that it ended on the 7th not the 8th.

"He had said initially that it was his lawyer that told him this which was not the case.

“He cut off the strap and they had to come back out at 9am to put it back on before the period expired at midnight.”

Sheriff Neil Bowie agreed it was “an act of stupidity” and fined Preston £160.