A man who met his former childhood sweetheart through Facebook and then threatened to put a bullet in her brain when the relationship turned sour was sent to jail for 27 months.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Thomas Balmer (44), c/o HM Perth Prison, sent the woman a text message in which he told her she would need to be dead for him to forget her.
He also said he loved her with “all his heart” and “wouldn’t let this go”.
Balmer then left a voicemail message in which he told the woman she was “gonna die” and threatened that he would “put a bullet” in her brain.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Cole told the court that Balmer and the woman had been childhood sweethearts in Ayrshire but then split up and the woman moved to the Blairgowrie area when she was aged around 18.
Ms Cole said: “The woman then married another man and had children and there was no contact with the accused. Then, in 2011, she began to suffer from depression and the marriage had difficulties.”
The court heard that the woman joined the social networking site Facebook and saw the accused had a profile on it. Ms Cole said the woman “instigated” contact with Balmer and they met up.
She went on: “The pair entered into a relationship and exchanged text messages and phone calls. On December 18 last year, the woman received a text message from Balmer in which he said she would ‘need to be dead’ for him to forget her.
“Then, on December 21, around 10pm, she woke up and found out she had received a voicemail message from the accused, in which he told her she was ‘gonna die’ and that he would ‘put a bullet in her brain’. The woman contacted the police about this and the accused was later traced.”
Solicitor Robert Logan, defending, said that his client “couldn’t remember” the incidents, but accepted he had left the voicemail message.
Mr Logan claimed the pair had an “extensive” relationship, which included going on holiday together and spending time at each other’s house.
The solicitor described the text message sent by his client as “misguided” and admitted the voicemail message “went beyond” that.
“My client was appalled when he later heard the voicemail message,” Mr Logan said.
Balmer had pled guilty to a charge that between June 1 and December 21 last year, at Barony Park in Alyth, Cumnock in Ayrshire, and elsewhere, he engaged in a course of conduct that caused a woman fear and alarm in that he behaved in the manner outlined in court.
Sentencing Balmer, Sheriff Alastair Brown told him: “You threatened to kill this woman and put a bullet in her brain.
“The text message you sent was at best manipulative and is the kind that would be sent by teenagers. The voicemail message was simply appalling.
“The circumstances are made worse by your criminal record, which includes a conviction for breach of the peace and assault in 2010, for which you were sent to prison for nine months and given a non-harassment order.”
Balmer’s prison sentence was backdated to December 24 and he was also given an Anti-social Behaviour Order for five years, which is designed to stop him molesting and threatening the woman.