A 32-YEAR-OLD man produced a knife during an appointment with a doctor at a Borders medical practice.

Selkirk Sheriff Court was told later that day, at Hawick Police Station, Michael Regan made threats of violence against the doctor.

He pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a knife and also behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the medical practice and at Hawick Police Station on February 2.

Prosecutor Emma Laing said the accused had turned up for his appointment around noon.

She added that he then pulled a knife from his jacket and removed it from the sheath.

The fiscal said that Regan gave the impression he carried the knife around with him for personal protection and that he did not trust people.

The doctor told police that Regan remained calm during the appointment but he felt he should report it to police as Regan said he carried the offensive weapon regularly.

Ms Laing said police officers caught up with Regan walking a dog on Wilton Hill around 7.40pm and the bladed article was taken off him.

She said that Regan repeatedly asked if it was the doctor that had reported him and after being taken into custody said he wanted to make another appointment so he could punch him in the face.

Defence lawyer Ross Dow referred to the doctor's comments that the accused represented a bigger risk to himself rather than anyone else and that he had remained calm during the appointment.

Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence until June 24 for the production of background reports when he would also consider imposing a non-harassment order preventing him from contacting the doctor or entering the medical practice.

He told Regan, of Howegate, Hawick: “Carrying a knife at any time is a serious matter. Taking it into a doctor's surgery exacerbates that."