A man has been fined £400 after admitting a “methodical” campaign of abuse against someone he believed to be seeing his now ex-girlfriend.
Matthew O’Neill, 24, was also accused of having a bladed weapon – a scythe – in a public place, but this was dropped.
Appearing in Banff Sheriff Court, O’Neill admitted threatening and abusive behaviour on 26 and 27 December 2022 directed towards the man from Turriff.
The court heard how O’Neill, of Willowburn, Fyvie, turned up at his victim’s address around 7.30pm on Boxing Day and demanded to speak with him.
Jealous rage
Fiscal depute Victoria Kerr said O’Neill had immediately launched into a tirade at the man “who shared an ex-partner” with him.
She told the court: “He made various threats towards the complainer, including ‘I am going to kill you’, ‘If I don’t get you, I will get your little brother, your stepdad and your mum’.”
Ms Kerr said the verbal attack continued and O’Neill told his victim he was “a dead man” and reiterated a death threat whilst saying “I will set this place on fire” if he refused to meet him.
The following day at 3pm the man received a menacing blank photo message from O’Neill’s Snapchat account: “Meet or your family will get it”.
“He then became aware of a car parked outside”, Ms Kerr went on. “And he saw [O’Neill] alight from the driver’s side of the vehicle.”
O’Neill hurled more abuse at the man, who was said to have been left “extremely” scared and alarmed by the incidents.
‘Pure stupidity’
O’Neill’s defence agent Leonard Birkenshaw said it was “pure stupidity” on his client’s part.
He told the court O’Neill had been in a relationship with a woman at that time and had found out she had been messaging the other man.
Mr Birkenshaw went on: “When he confronted her about it, she made up some half-baked excuse.
“After this incident, the relationship ended. He has not been in a relationship since and things have now resolved.
“He can only apologise.”
Sheriff Craig Findlater called O’Neill’s behaviour “entirely inappropriate” and added: “The manner of going about this over a two-day period was a methodical action.”
He fined O’Neill, who is in full-time employment, £400 to be repaid within two months.
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