A SHERIFF has slammed a man for doing his job, instead of unpaid work ordered by a court.

Self-employed electrician William Gordon, 27, was branded “crazy” for going to his work rather than doing the unpaid hours he was told to complete as part of a Community Payback Order (CPO).

Gordon, from Erskine, had been ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work, reduced from 250, as a direct alternative to custody for a vicious assault on a man near the M8 motorway.

He was given 12 months to complete the CPO in August last year but, in the 13 months since, has only done around half of the hours and found himself back in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Tom McCartney said: “As I understand it, he prioritised his employment, as a self-employed person, over his unpaid work.

“It’s a crazy decision to have made.”

Defence solicitor Paul Lynch replied: “It was a monumental error of judgement.”

Sheriff McCartney then added: “I do find it difficult to understand why someone who has committed a serious offence and been given a sentence of Community Payback, as a direct alternative to prison, does not grasp that opportunity and make sure that they fulfill that order to the letter.”

The judge said that criminals “should not be given multiple opportunities” to comply with a CPO and revoked it, placing Gordon on a Restriction of Liberty Order instead.

As part of the new punishment, he will be electronically tagged and have to stay in his home between 7pm and 7am every night for the next five months.

Gordon was warned he could be jailed if he breaches the latest order, which he said he would comply with.

He originally appeared in the dock after joining forces with another man to target David Marshall on October 23, 2015.

They got out of a car on the A736 at Hillington Road, in Renfrew and began behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting at Mr Marshall before attacking him.