An obsessed ex-partner subjected a woman and her children to a terror trip after hiding in her car, then jumping out as they drove to McDonald’s.
Robert Burns jumped up from the back of the vehicle while it was being driven on the Lochlands junction of the A90.
He shouted: “So you thought I wouldn’t find you and you don’t want to be with us?”
Burns has been jailed after he admitted an “astonishing” campaign of abuse towards the woman at addresses in Dundee and Forfar.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how in separate incidents, Burns took the woman’s car keys, forced his way into the home they used to share and climbed onto the bonnet of her vehicle.
The woman was so frightened by Burns – with whom she had been in a relationship for 20 years – she had to seek refuge in homeless accommodation.
Sinister start to behaviour
The court heard things deteriorated significantly on August 20 when Burns was removed from the Dundee address after an argument.
The following day, he forced open the locked patio door leading to the back garden and refused to leave.
She “gave up” asking him to leave but later made an “excuse” to get out of the property and dial 999.
He was again removed and the woman moved to a homeless unit with her children.
On August 29, she was taking the family to McDonald’s in Forfar and approached the Lochlands junction when Burns – who is believed to have been inside the car for a hours – appeared and made the remarks.
McDonalds’ terror
An agreed written narrative, which was not read aloud in court but perused by Sheriff Mark Thorley, stated: “They became terrified of the accused’s actions and the complainer slammed the brakes on the slip road.
“The accused began climbing through the car.
“The accused leaned over the complainer and removed the keys from the ignition and her mobile phone from the centre console.
“An older child told the accused to leave. Younger children were in the rear of the vehicle cowering in fear.”
The keys were only returned after the woman reluctantly agreed to Burns’ asking if they could resume their relationship.
The children were described as “shaking” after the woman drove them and Burns to the McDonald’s at Milton of Craigie in Dundee.
Jailed
Two days later, Burns ran onto the bonnet of the woman’s car before falsely claiming to police that she had tried to run him over.
A further disturbance occurred outside a school where Burns tried to remove the woman’s keys and attempted to drive while disqualified.
Burns, a prisoner at HMP Perth, admitted engaging in an abusive course of conduct between August 20 and September 9 this year.
Solicitor David Sinclair said his client – a previous offender – had been at a “low ebb” with his mental health and was under “no illusions” about the potential sentence.
“It’s astonishing in terms of the quantum of events,” Sheriff Thorley said.
“It appears to me there’s absolutely no alternative but a custodial sentence.”
Burns was sentenced to 220 days in prison, consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving.
He was also made subject to a three-year non-harassment order and disqualified from driving for six years.
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