Sheriff blasts thug over teen babysitter threats
Carpet cleaner has the rug pulled from under his feet
A carpet cleaner drunkenly threatened to slap a 14- year- old girl after a night out with his partner turned nasty.
Yob Darren Quigley, 30, also claimed he would ‘ KO’ his girlfriend during a rammy at her house.
Quigley, who runs Quality Clean Carpets and Upholstery, and his girlfriend Stephanie Milne had left their baby with the teenage sitter, but, when they returned, he didn’t take kindly to a cheeky remark she made to him.
He pleaded guilty at Paisley Sheriff Court to using threatening and abusive behaviour towards the girl and also to assaulting Ms Milne by pushing her on the body.
Depute fiscal Claire Nicholls told the court: “He told the girl, ‘don’t think I won’t slap you’. His partner Stephanie said, ‘You are a 30-year-old man, she’s 14.’
“He then said that she would be KO’d, which she took to be a threat of violence.”
The court heard that Quigley and his girlfriend then began a shoving match, with Stephanie desperately trying to usher him out the front door.
The prosecutor continued: “She tried to push him toward the front door. He was pushing her back.
“The accused grabbed her by the T-shirt and said, ‘I’ll strangle the life out of you’.”
He left the home in Mains Wood, Erskine, on November 20 last year and was later traced by cops.
His defence agent Paul Lynch told the court that his client was ‘ashamed, embarrassed and mortified by his conduct’.
He went on: “A cheeky comment was made to him on their return from the night out, but that doesn’t justify his reaction.
“Mr Quigley absolutely had too much to drink.
“It never ceases to amaze me the amount of times a social celebration of this kind turns out into this sort of incident.”
It was also revealed that Quigley, of Victoria Drive East, Renfrew, has another domestic conviction dating from 2012.
Sheriff Susan Sinclair fined him £500 over the incident.
She said: “It is unfortunate that what started as a good night ended up like this. Your behaviour towards a 14-year-old is unacceptable. I think you realise that now.”
Your behaviour towards a 14-year-old is unacceptable. I think you realise that now