knife offences?

[mum2all]

No idea where to post this so apologies if this is in the wrong place but need some advice quickly.

My friend's husband has tried to commit suicide a couple of times this week and his behavious has become increasingly erratic and aggressive. She has spoken to the police, doctors and psychiatric assessment unit at the local hospital but all are unwilling or unbale to help unless he asks for it - one doctor even prescribed sleeping tablets, despite him trying to overdose??
As a result she fled to our house on Friday with her young DC. He phoned constantly throughout the night/early hours, leaving venomous messages when no one answered.
Flash forward to yesterday afternoon when he got drunk, attacked a friend (ripping his clothes), tried to kick in a shop window and then drew a knife and tried to 'stab' the same window cutting himself in the process. The shop owner called the police and he then barricaded himslef in his parents home and had to be forcibly removed with his hands and feet cuffed.
He is in police custody and will be assessed before appearing in court on Monday but we cannot get a straight answer from anyone as to what will happpen next, or even what might.

I suppose our questions are:
What are the chances of him getting a custodial sentence? (police think it's likely)
What are the chances of him being sectioned?
What happens if he turns up at the house comes for the DC?
Any advice at all?

We are in central Scotland if that makes any difference.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Not sure about Scotland!!??
In E&W he may be sectioned under the mental health act (cant remember the section). They may have him in police cells until that time as a 'place of safety'. Being known to psychiatric services with a recognised mental health problem will make that more likely.

He will be given a solicitor who, if he thinks he is 'unfit to plea (plead?) he will more likely to be sectioned.

Its almost impossible to advise re the sectioning without knowing if he has mental health issues and his current state of mind, along with previous offences. His recent suicide attempts will make sectioning more likely. There are so many variable here - drug use - alcohol use - previous convictions?

Whatever happens your friend must get some kind of scottish restraining order, and if possible police panic buttons, extra security etc. Victim support should be contacted (I think she will still be classed as a victim) Any kind of Womens Aid for abused women.

My honest opinion - if it were me I would be putting as many miles as possible between me and this man in the short term purely for safety reasons.

A little personal exp here. Ex had a suicide/knife incident and 'got away' with it.

Restraining order
Supervised contact

Thanks for the response ladies will pass it on.

I work in the Scottish criminal justice system, however, the laws on sentencing have just changed and I'm on maternity leave so am not up to date, so this might not be completely accurate.

Scotland is quite strict on knife crime, often imposing custodial sentences for mere possession of a knife, let alone using one. However, if he has a previously clear record, and it is felt that his behaviour is unlikely to be repeated, he may end up with one of the new Community Payback Orders, which would see him released into the community.

Looking at this case, he should not be released without a mental health assessment. If he is assessed as currently low risk, he may be released on bail prior to any trial. Given the threats he has made, it would be reasonable to ask that he be barred from making contact. For that reason, make sure that the police are aware of the messages left on her phone. Your friend needs to be strict about reporting any breech of bail conditions though, even if he seems fine.

If he is found guilty, the Sheriff will defer sentencing for about a month for reports to assess his risk of reoffending and causing harm. If this happens, your friend should make contact with the local social work criminal justice office and ask to speak to the assigned worker, to allow them to take her situation into account when making the risk assessment. In ideal circumstances, the worker should seek her out anyway, but this doesn't always happen, particularly if the offender doesn't pass on contact details.

The new sentencing laws focus on avoiding short custodial sentences, but I have no idea how that relates to knife crime, which as I said above, has always attracted harsh punishment as a deterrent. Lots of training to do when I go back!