The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Man jailed over ‘terrifying’ attack in Milnathort
Aman who took revenge on his girlfriend when she attacked his car with a hammer has been jailed for 20 months.
Jamie Miller smashed the windscreens of her friend’s car with a metal pole as they cowered inside.
One of the women in the car later told police she feared for her life as Miller worked his way around the vehicle smashing the windows.
Miller, 31, a prisoner at Perth, admitted threatening to slit 35-year-old Michelle Hall’s throat, shouting at his girlfriend Chelsea McKinney and smashing the car windows with a metal pole in Old Perth Road, Milnathort, on December 3.
He also admitted driving while disqualified.
Fiscal depute Gail Russell told Perth Sheriff Court that Miss McKinney, 20, had gone to confront Miller about cheating on her and had taken a hammer with her.
“They were in a relationship.
“Michelle Hall got a message asking her to drive Miss McKinney to Milnathort to speak to her boyfriend. They picked up two others.
“They noticed Miss McKinney had a hammer with her.
“She thought her boyfriend was cheating on her and she said she intended to smash his car if they couldn’t resolve their differences.
“Michelle Hall parked and the accused drove into the street.
“Miss McKinney left the car and approached his BMW. She appeared to hit the accused’s vehicle once.
“The accused became very aggressive and approached Miss Hall’s car and used an object to smash the rear windscreen.”
She said of one of the passengers: “She was terrified and told police she thought she might die.”
The women in the car had to move around to avoid the flying glass as Miller continued hitting the windows.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, defending, said: “He had been in a relationship with her for a number of months.
“There had been some difficulties which led to her constantly phoning him.
“His intention was to tell her to go away and leave him alone.
“He was very annoyed and frustrated following her smashing his car with a hammer.
“He accepts he made the threat. It was said in the heat of the moment.
“He fully accepts driving while disqualified.”
The court was told Miller, who wrote off almost a dozen cars during a series of joyriding incidents, had been disqualified from driving for life in 2010.
Sheriff William Wood jailed him and said: “What you said, in the context of when it was done, had a profound and lasting impact on her.
“Those sitting in the car became victims of your violent conduct.”
Miller was previously described by a sheriff as “a menace to society” after smashing at high speed into a gas sub-station during a police chase.
He knocked down two police officers and raced across country at 90 miles per hour after stealing his grandmother’s car during a family birthday party.
During a four-year period which started when he was 16, Miller destroyed numerous cars he had stolen – including six in one evening.
In February 2009, he was convicted of “driving like a labrador” with his head out of the side window because he could not see through a frosted windscreen.
He drove like that at high speed for several miles and on the wrong side of the road until he finally lost control and smashed into a wall and a bus stop.