A GOUROCK thug who targeted a female pub worker and subjected her to appalling verbal abuse before trying to get at her behind the bar has had a warrant issued for his arrest.

Repeat offender Ross Morgan - who forced open a hatch at the Cardwell Inn and also vandalised a defibrillator box - failed to turn up at Greenock Sheriff Court to be sentenced for his latest crime.

The 30-year-old, of Cove Road, had also refused to leave the Cardwell when requested to do so during the alarming incident on September 18.

Morgan, who has previous convictions for violence, committed the offence after being released on bail regarding another sheriff court matter.

He was cleared of charges that he had allegedly resisted, obstructed or hindered police on Tarbet Street by running away from officers and acting in an aggressive manner towards them.

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Morgan's lawyer said he had complied with the requirements of a background report prepared for what was meant to be his sentencing hearing, but the solicitor had no explanation for his client's no-show.

Sheriff Anthony McGeehan granted the warrant to apprehend.

The Telegraph has previously reported that Morgan's catalogue of crimes goes back a decade, with the Cove Road resident having been handed a prison sentence of two years and four months in 2013 for hiding a seven-inch knife in his shoe in a 'sinister' bid to sneak it into Greenock Sheriff Court.

After the jail term was imposed, he shouted at the sheriff 'I hope you die in your sleep tonight'.

He was locked up for a further year for jumping onto a teenage girl’s car and kicking in the windscreen before walking off and threatening to stab the woman and her 20-year-old female passenger.

Morgan, who was described as 'completely out of control', was on four court bail orders at the time.