Man made phone threats

Nov 16 2012 by Colin Rutherford, Kilmarnock Standard

A Kilmarnock man who made threatening calls to his ex-girlfriend has been told to stay out of trouble for the next six months.

Andrew Robertson, 27, of MacCallum Place, pleaded guilty to repeatedly phoning the woman and sending her text messages in September.

Stewart McMillan, prosecuting, said that the woman was at her home with a friend when she received a call from a number she recognised as Robertson’s.

“She also recognised the accused’s voice,” said Mr McMillan.

“He was asking if her current partner was within the house. She replied ‘no’ and he said he was going to smash him.”

In a further call a short time later, he “repeated that he was going to kill him”.

Hugh Duncan, defending, said that Robertson, an HGV driver, had been in a relationship with the woman for around five years and that they had a four-year-old child.

The solicitor said that they had separated three months ago and Robertson’s ex-partner was still living in the house which was owned by his parents and for which he was paying half the bills.

Said Mr Duncan: “However, he found out recently that for the past six weeks or so the complainer had been seeing someone else and, in effect, that someone else was staying at the house.”

Robertson made his discovery through the woman’s postings on Facebook.

“He didn’t take that particularly well,” he said. “He does very much regret it now in sobriety.”

Mr Duncan pointed out that Robertson had apologised to the woman the following day and had been in regular contact with her until he was detained by the police more than two weeks later.

He was released by police on an undertaking barring him from any contact with her.

Sheriff Brian Murphy deferred sentence until April next year for Robertson to be of good behaviour.