A terrified woman locked herself in the bathroom for two hours to hide from her abusive boyfriend who demanded she pay off his debt to a Glasgow drugs gang.
Patrick Gaughan subjected his long-suffering partner to “sustained” controlling and abusive behaviour for almost nine months.
The 31-year-old even brandished a knife at the woman while ordering her to hand over her bank card.
He also threatened to have her baby taken off her as soon as it was born and said he’d ruin her life.
But it was Gaughan who ended up pleading with the woman not to contact the police.
A written narrative of events prepared by the Crown for the hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court stated the pair had been in a relationship since November 2018 and lived together since May 2019.
When Gaughan’s behaviour was reported, his victim was 20 weeks pregnant.
During June 2019, the couple were at their address in Aberdeen when Gaughan asked the woman for £750.
She refused, due to only having £800 left in her account.
The narrative states: “An argument ensued, with the accused stating that he owed it to a drug dealer who happened to be the head of a gang from Glasgow and that this male
knew her address and would come to her door.
‘Fine, just take it’
“The accused went on further to argue that if she did not give him the money he would be killed.”
The woman continued to protest, explaining she “would not have any money to live off”.
Gaughan became “more irate” and started to shout and swear at his girlfriend, telling her “you need to help me”.
The narrative states: “Growing frightened, the complainer ran to the bathroom within the property, in possession of her bank card, and locked the door behind her.
“The accused proceeded to bang on the locked door and attempt to open it from the outside.”
Gaughan then used a “metallic object” to try and twist the lock, becoming “increasingly distressed” and shouting and crying.
After two hours, the woman eventually decided to come out. Gaughan confronted her and she held out her bank card, saying: “Fine, just take it.”
Gaughan grabbed her arm and snatched the card.
Kebabs thrown at the walls
However, the woman then noticed Gaughan was holding a kitchen knife in his hand and “almost instantly changed her mind and snatched her debit card back”.
The narrative says: “Upon doing this, the accused clenched his fists and pointed the knife upwards in the complainer’s direction, while holding it at his waist level.”
Gaughan warned “you need to give it back to me” and, feeling “under duress and frightened”, his partner threw the card at his feet and ran back into the bathroom.
Gaughan left the address and his partner received banking app notifications that £750 had been taken from her account.
An hour later, Gaughan returned, “ignored” the woman and went straight to bed.
In October 2019, the woman moved to Inverurie and, after a brief break-up, the couple resumed their relationship and Gaughan moved in.
But in November 2019, Gaughan began “drinking heavily” daily, and regularly shouted and swore at her, calling her “a cheat” and a “b***h”.
Gaughan also screamed at the woman, claiming she was controlling one because she asked him to consider not drinking.
Arguments were a daily occurrence and Gaughan would also gamble regularly.
Just before Christmas 2019, while the woman was staying with family in Glasgow, Gaughan texted her stating he needed £500 to pay off a “final drugs debt”.
She did not feel obliged to give him money as he had his own job at this point, however, he stated “they” would kill him.
Girlfriend had ‘had enough’
She eventually gave in and transferred him the money.
On Hogmanay 2019, to mark Gaughan’s birthday, his partner was asked to drive them and his two brothers to TGI Friday at the beach.
However, when one of his brothers was not at the agreed pick-up point, Gaughan became irate, blaming his girlfriend and saying she had “ruined the night”.
All four of them eventually made it to the restaurant, where Gaughan and his brothers drank “various amounts of whisky” before the complainer drove them all back to their house.
The woman went to bed but Gaughan and his brothers began to fight, kicking and punching at each other.
When she woke up the next morning for work, she found the flat “trashed”, with kebabs thrown on the walls, empty beer cans everywhere and broken glass on the floor.
She later returned home to find Gaughan had not cleaned up and was still fighting with his brothers, so she drove them home.
‘His life was essentially out of control’
At 6.30pm on February 23 2020, the woman went to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital after feeling unwell in connection to her pregnancy.
Gaughan also attended having consumed eight cans of beer throughout the day.
Due to delays in being seen, Gaughan became “increasingly agitated” and called his partner “stupid” when she tried to calm him down.
The next day, despite his partner still feeling sick, Gaughan “insisted” that she cook him dinner and called her “lazy” when she said she wasn’t feeling up to it.
At one point she went to the bathroom and locked the door, resulting in Gaughan “berating” her, shouting and threatening that his brothers would “come and get her”.
Having “had enough”, the woman left and drove to Inverurie police station where she stood outside, crying, for around five minutes before deciding to drive back home.
She parked outside her home and honked the horn to get Gaughan to come outside so she could drive him home.
He came out and started shouting at her, stating he was “going to get a solicitor involved”, that she would “never see the baby” and that he’d “ruin her life”.
‘Controlling and coercive’
The woman, instead of taking him home, went to the police station again.
Gaughan “begged” her not to report him, however, she felt she had “reached the end of her tether”.
She gave a statement to police who later traced and arrested Gaughan, but not before he managed to bombard her with no less than 53 text messages.
Gaughan, of Whin Park Place, Aberdeen, pled guilty to engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his partner.
Defence agent Kevin Longino said his client “fully accepts the relationship is no more and has no interest in pursuing it”.
He went on: “He was excessively abusing alcohol for the period of the relationship.
“There were other issues as well, financial problems he had relating to gambling and other matters.
“His life was essentially out of control.”
The solicitor said alcohol and “substance abuse” had played a “significant” role in the offending.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston said the offence formed a “sustained period” of domestic abuse involving “controlling and coercive” behaviour.
As an alternative to prison, she imposed two years of supervision, 180 hours of unpaid work and a requirement to complete the Caledonian programme.
She also imposed a three-year non-harassment order.
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