A balaclava-wearing thug turned up at his ex-partner’s Dundee home threatening to petrol bomb it and “re-arrange her face”.
Ryan McLaughlin was with two other masked men when he arrived the woman’s house on February 27 this year.
Two days later, he appeared in court and started shouting abuse and making “gun” gestures towards a group of people in the public gallery, including the same woman.
In the weeks before, he failed on eight occasions to comply with a bail condition to report to police headquarters in West Bell Street by noon every Wednesday.
The 25-year-old appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court by video link to prison to plead guilty to two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and breaching bail.
Balaclava terror
Prosecutor Jamie Hilland told the court McLaughlin and the woman had been in a short-term relationship in 2022.
She had refused to answer a domestic abuse questionnaire due to fear of him and police assessed the risk as “high”.
At around 8.45am on February 27 she was at home with a young child when McLaughlin turned up at the house with two other men.
The fiscal depute said: “They were all wearing balaclavas.
“The accused was shouting and kicking the front door.
“He was shouting that she should let him in so that he could ‘re-arrange her face’.
“He also threatened to ‘come back tonight to kick her door in’.
“The men threatened to petrol bomb her house.”
Found in Cumbria
The woman phoned police and, while on the call, could be heard repeatedly mentioning a child while speaking to someone else.
McLaughlin could be heard saying “you’re going to get it again mate, your mum’s away to get it again, your mum’s getting it”.
A neighbour witnessed the incident and started filming the men, telling them this was to get them to leave.
They made off in a white Range Rover.
Officers arrived within a few minutes and while speaking to the woman, she answered a call from McLaughlin, who began to shout and swear at her.
Police obtained the car registration details and the vehicle was stopped later that day after being spotted by Cumbria Police officers.
McLaughlin was inside and he was arrested and taken to Dundee police station.
Court rant
The court heard that on the morning of February 29, McLaughlin was in the custody cells at Dundee Sheriff Court.
He became involved in a “heated argument” with a female prisoner in the adjacent cell, ending with him calling her a “black b****”.
He was escorted into the court room and his former partner was sitting in the front row of the public gallery with others.
He immediately became angry and started shouting they should not be in court and accused them of threatening his mother.
He called them “rats” and “prostitutes” and threatened to “burn” and “kill” them, the fiscal said.
He seemed to be trying to move towards the group and had to be pulled back by Geo-Amey officers.
The fiscal added: “On two or three occasions he made a ‘gun’ gesture with his finger towards the group, which was seen by (the woman).
“The public were cleared from the court. Even after (the woman) left, the accused continued screaming”.
Sheriff Grant McCulloch deferred sentence for background reports until January 21.
McLaughlin is already serving a custodial sentence and is due to be liberated in March.
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