A YOUTH football coach is being probed by cops over claims he sawed down his next door neighbour's flagpole. Ian Horne, 39, is alleged to have scaled his neighbours' 6ft fence to cut down the St Andrew's Cross.
Next-door neighbours Chris and Laraine Simmons insist they have been friends with Horne since he moved into his £300,000 pad in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, three years ago.
But Laraine, 51, said she woke at 3.30am last Friday to find her neighbour - who has coached kids at top clubs - brandishing a saw in her garden.
The occupational therapist said: "I woke up when I heard it crashing to the ground, breaking my patio heater in two and plant pots on decking.
"At first I thought he was a burglar but when I looked out of the window, I saw Ian holding a saw at the flagpole.
"I shouted, 'Ian, what on Earth are you doing?' "He was cursing and shouting, 'There's your fucking flagpole. Fly your fucking flag now.'
"Ian seemed tome to be intoxicated. Up until now, we have never had a bad word between us. But this is completely out of order. The police turned up and went in to speak to him but he was in a drunken sleep and they couldn't wake him."
Strathclyde Police confirmed they are investigating a disturbance at the town's Redwood Crescent. A spokesman said: "We are following a definite line of inquiry."
But last night Horne insisted: "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Horne is the training and development director of a company. He lives with his girlfriend Jean and their two children in Redwood Crescent. He also has a son with his ex-wife.
The flagpole was a treasured gift from Chris's mother Evelyn, 82. She said: "I bought my son the flag because I know how much he loves Scotland. it's very sad it has come to this."
Chris, 48, who retired after a steel works accident, said he wants nothing more to do with his neighbour.
He said: "We were good neighbours and friends until this happened. I am proud to be Scottish and put the flag up a few months ago. I even asked Ian what he thought of it and he said it was very nice. I don't know what was going on in his mind when he climbed the fence and sawed down my flagpole."
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