14-05-2025
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.
