Latest news with #DumbartonSheriffCourt
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Clydebank man possessing knife was wearing body armour
Thomas Gallagher was drinking in the company of a pregnant woman at a property in Second Avenue when he started calling her "the devil". The 39-year-old was shouting and acting aggressively. The woman was distressed and left while barefoot, Dumbarton Sheriff Court was told. A witness saw her and could hear her crying. Another neighbour heard Gallagher threatening to "murder" her and "I hope you die". Around 1.10am, police arrived. The man answered the door, intoxicated, and started threatening officers. He was repeatedly reminded they were there to check on the welfare of everyone there. READ MORE: Drug dealer caught as phone lights up with WhatsApp texts during police search Fiscal depute Euan Nicholson said the man continued to threaten to fight officers and "said he had body armour". As additional police arrived, he then opened his tracksuit top and showed his armour and a knife in the front pouch. Gallagher, listed in court papers as a prisoner at Low Moss, also had a knuckleduster in his right trouser pocket. Police had to deploy PAVA spray to his face. He pleaded guilty in June to shouting, swearing, uttering threats and making derogatory remarks towards his partner at a property on February 8 this year. It was aggravated by being against a partner or ex. He further shouted, swore and uttered threats of violence and made homophobic remarks to two police officers. This was aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation. And he admitted having a knife and having a knuckleduster. READ MORE: Former cop caught driving while disqualified after crash The Crown accepted last month that he did not shoot a crossbow at a veranda door at Orbiston Place on May 18 and 19, 2024. At sentencing on July 8, his defence solicitor said it was an "extremely frightening incident". "He is apologetic about his behaviour on the night in question," he said. There was not just alcohol in his client's system, but a "cocktail" that "acted as a catalyst for his behaviour". He accepted Gallagher had a lengthy record, including for past offences of violence. But he said the last one was 10 years ago. Because he had been locked up for about five months, under automatic early release, that was a 10-month sentence, explained the solicitor. Sheriff Robert Carr said: "This was an incident involving appalling behaviour on your partner. "You have a bad record. There is no alternative to a custodial sentence." He jailed Gallagher for 10 months, backdated to February 10.
Glasgow Times
12-07-2025
- Glasgow Times
Alexandria man pleads guilty to having knife in Dumbarton
Jordan Daldry appeared from custody last week and pleaded guilty to having a knife in the Dumbarton Lidl and the town's High Street. He was led into the dock seemingly without apparent injury and the circumstances of his fall were not revealed. Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard that around 5.30pm on July 31, 2024, he and a woman entered the Lidl. And after a short period of time, she passed a knife to Daldry. They left the shop and police were contacted. Daldry was spotted on CCTV outside the Morrisons Daily, which is where officers found him just before 6pm. He was searched and a silver knife with a black handle was found in his waistband. The 28-year-old, of Munro Street, Alexandria, pleaded guilty on July 8 to having the weapon. He previously repeatedly broke a non-harassment order (NHO) not to approach or contact his ex. And after each breach, he was released on bail and did it again. READ MORE: Former cop caught driving while disqualified after crash Daldry was handed the NHO in December 2022, banning any contact from his ex. He has repeatedly broken that. On November 20 last year, at the West Dunbartonshire Council headquarters next to the court, he arrived with the woman. That was reported to police. Nine days later, police were told they were together again and forced their entry to a property. They saw Daldry trying to escape. On January 9 this year, police attended a property in Dumbarton, forcing their way in and discovering him with the woman. He had two bail orders from October and December 2024 at the time. On February 20 this year, at various Dumbarton streets and outside a primary school, he broke the NHO again and shouted at the woman. It was the school's headteacher who reported Daldry's behaviour. He had three bail orders from a month earlier. READ MORE: Drug dealer caught as phone lights up with WhatsApp texts during police search Daldry's offences were aggravated by being against a partner or ex. Breaking bail orders were also separate charges. Sheriff Robert Carr identified a "pattern of behaviour" where the woman was "voluntarily" placing herself in situations where she and Daldry communicated with each other. His defence solicitor said the NHO was imposed by the court, but the former partner had not wanted it. There had been no formal request to lift the NHO. "He appreciates it's there for a reason, notwithstanding the views of the complainer," said the solicitor of his client. He said of the knife charge, his client "should have declined" when the woman passed him the blade. Daldry was placed on a structured deferred sentence previously. "It did not start well, and deteriorated," said the solicitor. "He jumped from a seventh-floor window." That resulted in injuries including three fractures to his back and his elbow. Daldry had already served some time locked up over the charges. Sheriff Carr sentenced him to a further four months in jail over the knife. He was admonished for the NHO breaches.
Glasgow Times
27-06-2025
- Glasgow Times
Woman offered to lick police officer's privates
The drunk 54-year-old jumped on one officer's back and bit her, spat at another and then made the sexualised comment while standing in Clydebank police office. Shona McPhail was with a man in Red Moss Road, Clydebank, after being spoken to by officers in an unrelated incident. READ NEXT: Former Catholic priest admits repeated abuse of boy more than 40 years ago READ NEXT: Serious organised crime unit cop sentenced for sexually assaulting colleagues on duty She was shouting and the man told her to sit in his vehicle to stop her from being loud in the street. Police asked her to stop, at which point she turned up the radio to play "extremely loud music". The woman, of Howie Crescent, Rosneath, was informed she was under arrest and an officer tried to lean into the passenger side window to arrest her. "McPhail got out and leapt onto the back of the officer," fiscal depute Mandy Robertson told Dumbarton Sheriff Court. A second officer tried to pull her off, causing them to fall back. The first officer straddled McPhail on the ground, and the woman struck out to their face with an open palm. "She then grabbed the officer's left wrist, dug her nails into her skin, causing abrasions and some skin to come off," said the prosecutor. "I have got germs, bite her," said McPhail. She tried to bite the officer and another officer came to assist. She spat at their left leg. An officer removed their baton and placed a spit hood on McPhail. She was taken to Clydebank police office and while at the charge bar, she tried to get the attention of one of the officers. They refused to engage, so McPhail turned to one of them, looked at the male officer's lower body and then up to their face. "I'll lick your d**k, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said. McPhail was asked to stop as it was making him uncomfortable. "But I've seen you on TikTok," she replied. Mrs Robertson said the officer was distressed by the situation. McPhail pleaded guilty in May to assaulting one officer by striking her to the head, seizing her on the arm and digging her fingernails into the arm and trying to bite her. She admitted assaulting a second officer by spitting on his body. And she pleaded guilty to directing a sexual remark at a third officer for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, distressing or alarming him. The charge was under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act. The incidents all happened on September 5 last year. At sentencing on June 20, defence solicitor Jonathan Paul said his client was "ashamed of her actions". "She has very little recollection of what happened," he said. "She had drunk a lot of alcohol and was severely intoxicated." Mr Paul said the "root cause" was alcohol abuse, which she felt "can be managed". But she accepted she would have to give it up. Sheriff Sean Lynch said: "What I have heard about is quite frankly disgraceful behaviour and when I take that together with your record, there's no doubt the threshold of custodial sentence is met here." As a direct alternative to custody, she will be supervised by social workers for 12 months. She must also stay within her home from 7pm to 7am for the next four months. Because her comment to the officer was under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act, she had to go on the sex offenders register. Previously, that would mean she was on the sex offenders register for a year. The High Court recently decided it should be five years when a case has more than one aspect of punishment, such as supervision and curfew.
Glasgow Times
20-06-2025
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow man threw incendiary device at window
Barry McQuillan last month admitted recklessly throwing the glass jar with a cloth and white spirit at a window in Strauss Avenue, Clydebank. It broke the window to the danger of those inside and the address on May 6, 2023. When he appeared over the charges in May 2023, he was granted bail with a 7pm to 7am curfew. He subsequently broke that three times, accumulating more breaches of bail as he did. Appearing from custody on June 17, Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard the first failure was on July 10. READ NEXT: Former Catholic priest admits repeated abuse of boy more than 40 years ago READ NEXT:Serious organised crime unit cop sentenced for sexually assaulting colleagues on duty McQuillan called curfew monitor G4S just after 7pm and said he had been slashed and was going to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for treatment. They checked a couple hours later and he hadn't appeared at any hospital, said fiscal depute Kirsty McKenzie. McQuillan reappeared at home at 10.22pm. Police found him clearly intoxicated and with superficial injuries. There was a knife nearby. He gave them various accounts of what happened, and officers concluded the injuries were self-inflicted. The 39-year-old was arrested and bailed. A week later, G4S told police McQuillan wasn't home for curfew. Police arrived just before 1am and found the front door unlocked, but the man wasn't there. He later turned himself in at Clydebank police office and said: "I've been fleeing violence." Again, he was arrested and bailed. In October, G4S were unable to get into his then home to fit a new tag monitor. Police couldn't trace him but McQuillan later got in touch and said he had moved because the property had been broken into. Officers had seen no evidence of this. As well as admitting the incendiary device charge, he pleaded guilty to the breaches of curfew and bail, the last of which had lasted from October 6 to 20. At sentencing, McQuillan's defence solicitor said his client's position was he had been attacked. He left to go to a friend's home and was going to phone an ambulance from there. "His position was he was fleeing violence," said the solicitor of the bail breaches. He should have told G4S or his solicitor of his change of address. Drug addiction issues had a "significant impact on his thinking" and McQuillan would need to address that to stay away from courts in future, he added. Sheriff Frances McCartney jailed him for 18 months for the incendiary device, plus nine months of supervised release when he's free. Another 11 weeks and two months were also added on for curfew breaches. The sentences were backdated to May 14.
Glasgow Times
14-05-2025
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow man sent penny bank transfers to ex with 'please speak to me'
Josh Harkness spent months bombarding his ex with messages, including using the references from tiny bank transfers. The 29-year-old also pushed a very elderly man on a train platform in a completely unprovoked attack. A court heard Harkness was in a relationship with a woman for about six months in 2023 while they were working for the same employer. The relationship ended on January 21, 2024 but Harkness continued to make contact with phone calls and WhatsApp messages. His ex, in Clydebank, repeatedly told him she didn't want contact. At one point, he sent three bank transfers, two of 2p and one of 3p, with the references including messages such as, "please speak to me" and "I love you" and "please call me". Sometimes she would answer calls - to tell him to stop. Once Harkness, of Strachur Grove, Lambhill, Glasgow, called from a payphone because his ex had blocked his mobile number. He asked why she was doing this, fiscal depute Charis Jackson told Dumbarton Sheriff Court. The ex later reported concerns to police. Harkness then turned up with flowers at the home of the woman's former partner to pass on to her. That ex contacted police and Harkness was arrested on July 25. He spoke freely to officers and said he had experienced "grief" at the end of the relationship. He said he was aware his ex reported his behaviour to management at work. When he was cautioned and charged, he replied: "It's not right - she owes me money." He appeared at court for that crime on August 13 and was granted bail. Later that day, his ex walked out of the Aldi in Kilbowie Retail Park, Clydebank, and saw items on her vehicle windscreen. There was a scratch card and a ScotRail ticket with, "Why did you not say hi to me when you seen me?" written on it. The woman then saw Harkness standing on a roundabout on Montrose Street which allows access towards Clydebank police office. In a third unrelated case, also on the same day he was given bail, August 13, Harkness was at Dumbarton Central rail station. He said to an 86-year-old man there, "do I know you big man?" and then pushed him with force. A train pulled up and he boarded, got off at Dumbarton East, then returned back to Central where police arrested him. He later pleaded guilty to that assault, while on bail. And he admitted that between January 21 and July 6, 2024, he engaged in a course of conduct that caused fear and alarm. It was aggravated by being against an ex-partner. And he admitted breaking bail to not approach his ex when he contacted her at Aldi. Sheriff Colin Pettigrew noted Harkness's "apparent misunderstanding of the word 'no'". And he was concerned that he went "straight from court to commit an offence on the same date". Defence solicitor Judith Reid said social workers noticed a "significant naivety" on his part. The sheriff said: "I can understand following a break-up there may be one party that wants to reconcile. I get that. "She didn't want any contact. You went straight from this court and you didn't wait minutes and go and do it." He imposed a community payback order with 12 months of supervision by social workers. Harkness must also do 200 hours of unpaid work. For the assault on the rail platform, sentence was deferred for six months to see his progress. The sheriff said it was "fortunate there was no injury" but "a very senior citizen was going about his lawful business" and was subjected to a completely unprovoked attack. Harkness's ex will be protected from any contact from him for two years.
