East Lothian thugs who launched washing machine from a window are spared jail

Adjin Husic, 25, and Nathan Hill were part of a mob who also threw a TV, radiators and a hoover at the officers while also shouting vile homophobic insults at them from the flat in Haddington, East Lothian.

Hill was later arrested after cops found him hiding in a nearby garden after he had jumped from a second floor window in a bid to escape.

Husic and Hill appeared for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday (FRI) after previously pleading guilty to culpably and recklessly throwing items out the flat window and endangering police officers.

Hill, 30, also admitted making homophobic remarks to officers while third accused Sophie Dudgeon, 18, pled guilty to making threats towards officers including threatening to kill their children.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell QC said “shocking is an accurate description” of the antics against the police that night but stopped short of imposing custodial sentences.

Instead Husic, who appeared via video link from HMP Edinburgh, was handed an 18-month offenders supervision order and told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

While Hill, of Haddington, had his sentence deferred for a further three months for him to complete an existing community payback order consisting of unpaid work and supervision.

Previously the court heard police were called out to deal with the “noisy party” at Husic’s home at the town’s High Street at around 11pm on June 19 last year.

Husic denied the officers entry to the flat and party-goers soon began throwing items out of the flat’s third floor window on to the street below.

The court was told among the items thrown were a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, a TV, two radiators as well as bottles and crockery.

A police vehicle suffered damaged to its bonnet and windscreen during the incident while officers were forced to close off roads and paths surrounding the area.

Hill and Husic were both found hiding in a nearby garden around two hours after the trouble started after Hill was said to have injured his ankle during the escape bid.

Yesterday Husic’s lawyer Ross Gardner said there had been “a state of excitement” in the flat following the police arrival but the “party mood turned to a siege mentality” very quickly.

Mr Gardner added Husic became angry after a friend had thrown his TV out of the flat window and his conduct that night had been “ill advised and criminal”.

Murray Robertson, for Hill, said his client had recently became a father and was in a stable relationship.

The lawyer admitted Hill’s behaviour that night was ‘shocking” but added he has now “a degree of insight” into his offending and asked the sheriff not impose custody.

Sophie Dudgeon, from Tranent, East Lothian, previously had her sentence deferred for six months after she admitted making threats towards officers including threatening to kill their children following her arrest.

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