A woman who screamed abuse at police searching for a missing girl has been ordered to undertake unpaid work.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Thursday, a lawyer for Kelly Maguire, 37, said she had been unaware that the child was hiding in a wardrobe at her home in Perth’s Newton Place when police arrived at her door on May 12.
Defence solicitor John McLauchlin said she had previous problems with officers after her partner died in a police-related incident and refused to let them in, screaming and swearing at them.
Maguire admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing, and to calling police officer Derek Li a derogatory term in a racially aggravated offence.
Depute fiscal Rebecca Kynaston told the court that officers had attended Maguire’s address after checking the missing girl’s Facebook account at around 2pm on the day in question.
On the doorstep Maguire repeatedly called officers “piggy b*******” and told them to “f*** off” as the child was not there.
Ms Kynaston said: “She was charged with abusing the police and she told them to f*** off again.”
Mr McLauchlin said the girl was invited to the house by Maguire’s daughter and his client was unaware of her presence.
He said: “Unknown to Ms Maguire, her daughter had brought the girl back in the house and hidden her in the wardrobe when police arrived. Ms Maguire asked her daughter if she had brought the girl to her house and she said she hadn’t.”
Mr McLauchlan added that Maguire’s animosity was a result of her former partner’s death.
He said: “He died during police operations. She has significant resentment about Tayside Police. As a result, she thought she was being targeted by police.”
Sheriff William Wood told Maguire: “There must have been a point when you realised, due to their persistence, that this was a real investigation.”
The sheriff imposed a community payback order of 60 hours.