A MAN who sent threatening messages about assassination to Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and later helped abduct a sheriff has been jailed for more than five years.

William Curtis, 70, was convicted last month of sending threatening messages to Sturgeon and of sending or causing a threatening message to be sent to former MSP Stewart Stevenson in 2019 following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

During the trial, advocate depute Chris McKenna read out a Facebook post from an account in the name of “William Patrick Curtis” that was flagged to Sturgeon’s office manager John Skinner on March 6, 2019.

It read: “We have reason to believe while it is my intention to citizens (sic) arrest her [Sturgeon] to answer her treason, over the last three years, serious people who reel the abuse to the electorate by her criminal activities warrants assassination of her and sevreal (sic) of her ministers, on down to even civilians who work in all agenices (sic) who have repeatedly lied to the electorate and conspired with the First Minister.”

He and co-accused Philip Mitchell, 60, were also found guilty of assaulting and abducting Sheriff Robert McDonald in a car park in Banff, Aberdeenshire, in June 2021.

READ MORE: Man guilty of threatening to kill Nicola Sturgeon on social media

On Friday, Lord Weir told the pair they were “entirely unrepentant for their actions”.

He sentenced Curtis to 18 months for the three charges of sending threatening and abusive messages, backdated to July 1 2021 when he was brought into custody.

Lord Weir said he was further sentenced to four years and two months for his part in abducting the sheriff, the term of which will begin on completion of the first part of the sentence.

Mitchell was jailed for four years for the incident involving the Sheriff.