A woman was forced to flee her home and hide in a neighbour’s garden after her ex turned up in the early hours of the morning and began kicking her front door.
Police were scrambled to the scene near Perth when the terrified woman activated her domestic abuse alarm.
They found her former partner Cameron Stephen lying in a drunken heap outside her house.
The 24-year-old appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm, when he went to his former partner’s house early on October 7 last year.
He shouted, swore and banged on the front door, making her believe someone was trying to break in.
Jumped over the garden fence
Fiscal Elizabeth Hodgson said the couple’s relationship had ended nearly three years ago but the pair remained in touch.
“They had not seen each other for several weeks.
“At 11pm, on October 6, the accused’s ex-partner locked her doors and went to bed.
“During the night, at around 2.40am, the accused called the complainer four times on her mobile phone.
“She was sleeping and so did not hear the calls.”
Ms Hodgson told the court that about half-an-hour later, the woman was woken by someone knocking on her front door.
“She went to answer it.
“She saw a silhouette standing outside in the darkness and realised it was still the early hours of the morning.
“The accused began forcibly kicking the door. He was shouting: ‘Open the f***ing door.’
“This was overheard by a neighbour.”
The woman then activated her domestic abuse alarm.
“She believed someone was trying to break her door down and get into her property,” said Ms Hodgson.
“The complainer called 999 and ran out of the back door.
“She jumped over her garden fence and hid in her neighbour’s garden.”
Ms Hodgson said: “The accused kicked open the side gate, while the complainer was crouching and hiding.
“She managed to run back into the property.”
Police arrived at about 3.30am and found Stephen lying in the garden.
“He seemed to be intoxicated,” the fiscal depute told the court.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said: “Clearly attending at that time of day, having consumed alcohol, was not his best idea.”
Sheriff Gillian Wade fined Stephen – who now lives at Little Langdale in the Lake District – £600.
“Obviously this kind of behaviour was completely unacceptable,” she told him.
