Man ripped up painting done by his partner
A Stirling area yoga teacher was fined a total of £405 this week for entering his partner’s Lochearnhead home and ripping a picture in half.
Justin Flippard, whose address was given as a Stirling guest house, had also breached a bail undertaking effective following his arrest for the March 29 incident by attempting to contact Melanie Lewis at her Auchraw Terrace home between April 1 and 10.
Last month the 51-year-old admitted charges of wilfully damaging property and breaching an undertaking aggravated by abuse of a partner or ex-partner.
At Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday, fiscal depute Jamie Hughes explained that Flippard and Ms Lewis had been in an on-off relationship for more than two years.
On March 29 she left her home address around 11am. While she was out a neighbour saw the accused entering Ms Lewis’s home, but thought nothing of it at the time as she knew Flippard worked nearby and had seen him there before.
However, when Ms Lewis returned at 3.45pm she found a picture she had painted ripped in half and contacted the police.
Police traced Flippard at his home address and he was arrested under suspicion of vandalism. During the interview he admitted ripping the painting in half.
When Flippard was charged with damaging property a bail undertaking was imposed with conditions not to approach or contact Ms Lewis.
However, Mr Hughes pointed out that Flippard contacted Ms Lewis on April 1 by email to apologise.
A few days later he again emailed her stating: ‘No negative energy. Yoga for all. Everything left at the door. Thursday 7pm at the village hall. Hope to see you there.’
On April 8 at 9.14am Flippard emailed Ms Lewis ‘drop in for a cuppa’ and at 6.40pm ‘Come to yoga tonight, 7.30pm’. He also contacted her by text message on April 6 and 9.
His agent Lisa McGuigan told Sheriff William Gilchrist that Flippard believed that Ms Lewis had entered into a relationship with someone else and was not happy about it.
Flippard accepted that he ripped the painting which, she added, was out of frustration over the situation he found himself in. Flippard however was very remorseful about destroying the painting.
He had messaged Ms Lewis as he wanted ‘closure’. She said the content of the messages was at the lower end of the scale - and some of them had been in a group email relating to his yoga teaching.
Ms Lewis also practised yoga, the solicitor explained.
Sheriff Gilchrist fined Flippard £225 for damaging the painting and £180 for breaching the undertaking. The total of £405 was payable at a rate of £50 per month.