Man is jailed for threatening ex

Told woman:‘You don’t know what I’m capable of’

A Stirling thug who went to the city centre place of work of his ex and threatened her, stating ‘you don’t know what I’m capable of,’ was this week jailed for 10 months.

James Crossley, of Adamson Place, Cornton, admitted four charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at Stirling Sheriff Court on Monday.

He had admitted a charge of possessing cannabis resin at a previous appearance.

The court was told that 30-yearold Crossley and Karyn King had been in a relationship for seven years and had a daughter together.

On June 21 this year, six months after they split, Crossley went to the Beauty Box in King Street at 2.15pm.

Fiscal depute Gail Russell explained that Ms King had been with a client and heard Crossley shout: ‘Is Karyn there?’

“To prevent any embarrassment” she went outside the shop to speak to him.

Crossley spoke about a bank account, but his ex, said Ms Russell, didn’t know what he was talking about.

When she told him she was going to contact the police he responded: “You aren’t going to get rid of me. I’m going to wait outside your house every night. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

When Ms King returned to the shop a witness inside noticed she was in tears and worried about the repercussions.

A few weeks later, July 6, Ms Russell told the court, an Adamson Place neighbour of Crossley, Peter McQuarrie was sitting on a wall near the accused’s home. Crossley leaned out of his window and shouted at the witness: ‘Is it OK to open my windows?’

Mr McQuarrie stated Crossley could do what he liked. Crossley then “adopted an aggressive stance” and Mr McQuarrie was concerned he would jump out the window and come towards him.

Crossley then started making abusive remarks to Mr McQuarrie which was videoed by another resident.

The third threatening and abusive behaviour charge involved Adamson making a sexually explicit gesture at an Adamson Place address on July 25 this year.

Ms Russell explained that children were playing in a garden when a car with Crossley in the passenger seat drove past. Crossley was seen making a rude gesture towards an Adamson Place house. One witness had thought that Crossley’s behaviour was directed at the children, but another thought the children were not aware it was happening.

The following day a neighbour again heard Crossley shouting abusive comments at someone in Adamson Place.

The charge of possessing cannabis resin involved 3.1g of the drug worth £20.

Crossley’s solicitor Alastair Ross told the court that his client accepted the threats made to Ms King were “childish and ridiculous” and he wished to apologise for them.

The July 25 Adamson Place behaviour, said Mr Ross, was directed at a neighbour who Crossley had rowed with in the past and who had first gestured at his client. Crossley, he pointed out “had been completely unaware of anybody else in the garden.”

The lawyer also told Sheriff Linda Smith that Crossley enjoyed the support of his family and had a new partner.

Sheriff Smith jailed Crossley for a total of 324 days’ imprisonment from July 27 this year. It comprised 80 days on the cannabis possession charge and 108 days each on the June 21 and July 6 threatening behaviour charges, which were to run concurrently, and consecutively to the cannabis charge.

Crossley was also sentenced to 54 days’ imprisonment for the threatening behaviour at Adamson Place on July 25 to run consecutively to the previous custodial terms imposed, and 81 days on the July 26 incident which was also to run consecutively.