Bullet threat teacher will not face jail

A TEACHER who sent bullets and a death threat in the post to a man who had an affair with his wife has been spared jail.

Michael Gaffney hunted down victim Rudy Irion through social media then launched a seven-month campaign of lies and intimidation.

Gaffney, 52, falsely branded Mr Irion a drug dealer and a rapist and made a death threat against him. But he has now walked free after a sheriff heard he has been suspended from his job as a history teacher and faces almost certain dismissal.

Gaffney’s death threat to Mr Irion, which included two imitation bullets, stated: ‘One warning only. You will be shot.’

The death threat was signed: ‘Belfast Continuity. One warning only.’

Gaffney, from Gourock, Inverclyde, worked at Ardnamurchan High School in Lochaber. Greenock Sheriff Court heard his career is now in tatters after Highland Council suspended him. A General Teaching Council investigation is likely to result in his dismissal.

The court heard that Gaffney’s wife of three months, Ukranian-born Liliya, 37, had met Mr Irion at the Café Continental bar in Gourock in October 2003. She went back to his house and they began a fling. Later she made up an imaginary friend called Olga as a cover for their assignations.

Last month, Gaffney was found guilty of a prolonged campaign of harassment against Mr Irion and his partner Marie, who told the court she was ‘scared and terrified’ by the threats.

Sentencing Gaffney to 240 hours unpaid work, Sheriff Tom Ward said: ‘I think this whole experience has been a lesson to you. I do not expect to see you back here again.’