A 39-year-old man involved in a number of drunken incidents in Hawick and Galashiels has been jailed for a total of 14 months at Selkirk Sheriff Court.

David Futter received eight months alone after kicking and punching a motor car on Hawick High Street which contained a woman and her two daughters that he did not know.

Passing sentence Sheriff Raymond McMenamin described the incident on June 21 as "utterly disgraceful".

He also imposed another six months jail for a further six offences, mainly for shoplifting but also included behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and breaching his conditions of bail.

Describing the most serious offence, depute fiscal Erin Illand said that at around 4pm on Friday, June 21, a woman was in her car in Hawick's High Street with her daughters aged 11 and 18 when Futter approached the car and asked if she was going to the Howegate.

When she replied she was not he kicked the rear passenger door of the vehicle before punching it as well.

Ms Illand said the woman and her daughters were "frightened" by his behaviour and when police officers caught up with him in Towerknowe he was "belligerent" towards them.

The fiscal summerised the other offences as stealing two crates of cider, a bottle of whiskly and miniature of spirits from Sainsbury's in Hawick on March 22; shouting and swearing and acting in an aggressive manner in Crumhaugh Road, Hawick, on April 10; stealing a bottle of whisky from Aldi in Commercial Road, Hawick, on April 28; two counts of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Waverley Transport Interchange in Galashiels on May 2; and stealing a keg of cider from Morrisons in Mart Street, Hawick, on May 25.

In addition he breached a bail condition by entering the Scotbet shop in Hawick on June 25 - a condition which had been imposed in court hours earlier.

Defence lawyer Robert More explained his client had moved from Clackmannanshire to the Scottish Borders with the intention of addressing his alcohol issues.

He said: "It appears he was quite successful during the initial period and was engaging with bodies such as Adaction. But he had a relapse during 2018 and began drinking again.

"He has described his recent period on remand as a godsend as it helped him with his sobriety.

"He can only apologize for his behaviour."

Sheriff McMenamin said the incident involving the woman and her two children can only be described as "utterly disgraceful" and jailed him for eight months.

He imposed another six months on Futter of Ramsay Road, Hawick, for the "persistent and determined" shoplifting offences and the two disturbances at the Transport Interchange in Galashiels.