A MAN has been jailed after being found guilty of holding three people hostage at a house in Cumnock.

But Adrian McGee was acquitted of allegations that he brandished a knife and assaulted a woman with intent to rape her.

Adrian McGee, 46, appeared from custody for trial at Ayr Sheriff Court last week.

He was accused of detaining two men and a woman, and injuring the female, at a property in the town’s Herdston Place on April 22 and 23, 2022.

The Crown alleged that he also took possession of the trio’s mobile phones and house keys while refusing to let them leave, and that he presented a knife at the woman and held it to her neck before assaulting her by repeatedly punching her on the head.

The jury found McGee, currently an inmate at Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, guilty of abducting three named complainers, and of making threats of violence towards them.

After the case, presented for the prosecution by procurator fiscal depute Rosslyn Walsh, the jury found McGee guilty of refusing to allow the three people involved to leave the property and of thus detaining them against their will.

The Crown also alleged that McGee – represented by Neil Shand KC, who was instructed by defence solicitor Robert Logan – had beaten a woman and demanded that she have sex with him.

But the jury acquitted him of that charge.

Following the jury’s verdict, Sheriff Mhairi Mactaggart jailed McGee for 20 months.

The sentence was backdated to April 23 last year, when he was first remanded in custody.