BULLYING ABUSER’S BAN FROM 2nd DATES
Vile brute has to get social worker approval before he can see women
A DOMESTIC bully who carried out a “litany of abuse” has been banned from having a second date with any woman without getting it signed off by a social worker.
Brute Marc Cosgrove, 36, has been given the dating restrictions after a sheriff described his behaviour towards previous girlfriends over eight years as “disgraceful.”
Cosgrove was made the subject of a conduct requirement to pass on the name and contact details of any female he forms a relationship with. Sheriff William Wood told him that meant “two or more meetings in your home.”
Sheriff Wood imposed the condition and a five year non-harassment order after stopping short of jailing Cosgrove at Perth Sheriff Court.
He placed him under supervision for two years, ordered him to do 225 hours unpaid work, and told him to attend a domestic bullying rehab course.
Sheriff Wood said: “I have listened to the litany of abusive behaviour set out by the Crown in relation to these three offences and it does you no credit whatsoever. Be under no illusion I have considered prison as an option.
“This woman has lived her life under a degree of fear and trepidation when she was with you. She felt she was walking on eggshells around you for part of the time. This kind of behaviour is not to be tolerated.”
Cosgrove, from Dundee, admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards one woman on various occasions between 2011 and 2019. He admitted two further charges relating to a second woman during a similar period.
Fiscal depute David Currie told the court the later victim “was constantly living on tenterhooks, waiting for the next outburst”. He added: “He constantly blamed her for his violent outbursts and anger issues.”
During a bombardment of messages, Cosgrove said: “You want to ruin my life? I will do the same to you. I hope you actually die. You f **** d up big time here. Really, really not one for doing this s**t, but I’m ready to explode,” he posted on Facebook. “It’s time you knew what she is like and find out all her dirty little secrets.”
When he was reported to police, officers quizzed his former partners and a similar pattern of abusive behaviour was described by the other woman named in the earlier charge.
Solicitor Andrew Lyall, defending, said: “I am instructed to say that he is truly sorry for his behaviour.”