Glasgow woman made threat to child in 'neighbourhood dispute'

Glasgow Times

4 days ago

Helen McPherson, 42, of Govan, was sentenced at Glasgow Sheriff Court recently after pleading guilty to four charges.
She admitted to three charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner and to assaulting a man.
The court heard that during April 2023, a woman - who we cannot name for legal reasons - had returned to her home on Southcroft Street after walking her dogs.
As she got to the common close she saw McPherson leaving with her dog. The two crossed paths without issue.
Once the woman was inside the building, McPherson turned and asked her to control her dogs.
However, the dogs were on leads, and there was no issue, so she chose to ignore this comment and continue on.
McPherson began to issue threats of violence to the woman and her dogs and shouted at her whilst walking towards her with her fist raised.
Fearing a perceived attack, the woman turned to face McPherson and walked backwards in an attempt to avoid any harm.
McPherson then made her way to the front door before sticking her middle finger up to her and walking away.
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In a separate incident on January 7, 2024, a woman and a man were outside their home at 4.40pm when they saw McPherson leave a common close on Southcroft Street.
McPherson mumbled towards them, 'f*****g Polish'.
The man put himself between McPherson and his wife, and McPherson began to attack him, striking him on the back multiple times.
The couple ran inside and contacted the police.
Officers attended and described the pair as visibly distressed. McPherson was arrested.
In a third incident on August 17, 2024, a woman and a child left their property at 9pm to walk their dogs.
They turned onto Vicarfield Street when they saw McPherson approaching them. McPherson chose to walk between the pair before turning to the child and stating, 'I'll kick you and your dog in the face.
"F**k off, I'll get my niece to come and beat you up.'
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The woman and child felt fearful and alarmed by what McPherson had said, and they contacted police.
McPherson was later arrested on September 4, 2024.
McPherson's lawyer told Sheriff Joanna McDonald that his client's position was that there was a background with an 'ongoing neighbourhood dispute'.
The defence solicitor said: 'Clearly her conduct will no doubt cause you some concern. It's clear she knows fine well that conduct is and was unacceptable on those dates and would have no doubt caused the complainers a great deal of upset.
'You may also be concerned by the report that she can be seen to attempt to pass blame onto the complainers.
'It's her position that there was a background going on. An ongoing neighbourhood dispute. She was merely attempting to provide that it wasn't always just her.
'She does regret her behaviour and has made attempts to contact the housing association in the hopes of moving.
'They don't share a common close. They don't share the same building. There is no issue with non-harassment orders being imposed for both complainers.
'Given what can be described as a lack of victim empathy, she may benefit from supervision to negate any further similar offending.'
Sheriff McDonald fined McPherson £420 and tagged her for five months, keeping her indoors between 7pm and 7am.