Man subjected partner to tirade

A man impersonated his partner’s father on the phone – and then subjected her to an angry tirade as she lay in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that Lesley Sweeney was left feeling“scared and angry”after the call.

The exchanges were overheard by the woman’s mother and another family member and the police were alerted, Perth Sheriff Court was told.

Stuart Lyall, 41, of Keir’s Land, High Street, Errol, was spared a jail term when he appeared for sentence.

Instead, he will have to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the next three months and be supervised by a social worker for 18 months after he admitted making the call and pretending to be Ms Sweeney’s father on February 7 this year.

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said the accused and the complainer had been in a relationship for five to six months. She had been admitted to hospital following an “incident”at the accused’s address.

Ms Whyte said:“On the evening of February 7, she was advised by hospital staff that her father was on the phone and the ward phone was handed over to her.

“She thought she was speaking to her father but it turned out to be the accused.”

The female’s mother and cousin could then hear the accused shouting and swearing and accusing her of stealing a laptop.

As a result, her cousin took the phone and told Lyall it was“inappropriate”for him to be phoning her.

The accused was traced on February 11 and admitted he had made the call.

Solicitor Paul Ralph said his client had been“candid”in his responses to the social worker who had prepared a background report and had explained he was on a methadone programme.

Sheriff William Wood told Lyall:“You must have known there would be repercussions following on from this offensive behaviour.”But it appeared to have been“a blip”in his recent behaviour and a community payback order could be imposed.