Paranoid Cove man turned from boyfriend to relentless stalker

Press and Journal

19-07-2025

A Cove man who turned from boyfriend to stalker and bombarded his partner and her family with scores of paranoid messages and calls has narrowly avoided going to prison.
Martin Gray, 43, was described as displaying a concerning pattern of behaviour towards the woman, whom he had briefly dated.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told Gray – who has previous convictions relating to women – had only been seeing his victim for less than a fortnight when his jealous and paranoid behaviour began to emerge.
Fiscal depute Sophia Ramzan told the court early in the relationship, on July 13 2023, Gray was repeatedly calling the woman's phone at 7.15am from outside her flat.
When he wasn't able to get her, he called the woman's sister in the hope she would be able to wake her up.
The woman woke up to numerous missed calls and was given a row by Gray for having her phone on silent and her lack of contact.
The court heard also that when the woman went on a solo spa weekend to Dunkeld, Gray demanded that she make a panoramic video to prove to him she was there alone.
She told him he was 'paranoid' and hung up the phone.
Similarly, when she went on a trip to Kilmarnock to see friends a week later, Gray began calling her incessantly.
When she complained about his behaviour, Gray told her she should be 'putting him first and that he wasn't going to be put second'.
Following this, the woman received a series of messages from Gray, telling her to 'always' answer his phone calls and stop prioritising her friends over him.
That evening Gray called the woman numerous times and sent her numerous texts before repeatedly calling her friends.
He also told her to 'get her f****** a**e up the road'.
'The complainer was described as being distraught by the situation,' Ms Ramzan said, adding that the woman 'struggled to sleep and was distressed throughout the night.'
She received a series of voice messages and missed calls from Gray throughout the night.
On July 21, Gray's attentions turned to the woman's family members.
They began receiving long and 'rambling' voice messages from Gray about her behaviour and who she was 'hanging around with'.
The following day, the woman informed Gray that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him.
However, he was not satisfied with this, Ms Ramzan said, telling the woman he would 'see her soon', as well as sending her messages noting his displeasure at her decision.
Gray then sent five Facebook messages to a male family member, stating that the woman had 'blocked him' and 'what the hell is going on?'
He continued to bombard the woman through various means, including email, and message her friends, calling her a 'lying s***'.
The messages and voice notes continued, with Gray demanding to meet face-to-face and 'then he would go'.
The police were contacted and Gray was arrested.
In the dock Gray, of Langdykes Drive, Cove, admitted one charge of engaging in a course of conduct that caused fear and alarm to his victim.
Defence solicitor Emily Bruce told the court that her client had believed the relationship to be a 'happy relationship' but that that had quickly changed.
'Mr Gray knows that what happened then went horribly over the score,' the solicitor said, adding that her client does have 'mental health difficulties'.
'Some of this exhibits as obsessive-compulsive behaviour and he struggles to manage his emotions,' Ms Bruce continued.
'Nevertheless, Mr Gray does take full responsibility for his actions.'
Sheriff Johnston described Gray's offences as 'extremely concerning', especially given the context of his other domestic offending that involved another woman.
'This is a serious charge of stalking,' she said. 'You have made a huge number of contacts with the complainer and people close to her.
'I could easily be imposing a custodial sentence today and I don't think you really understand that.'
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Johnston sentenced Gray to a community payback order with supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
Due to the 'pattern of behaviour that is emerging', the sheriff also made Gray subject to a domestic abuse programme and put a non-harassment order in place, meaning he cannot approach his victim for five years.