Patient jailed for ‘gender row’ death threats
A PATIENT who threatened to kill a psychiatrist after she refused to send him to a gender clinic has been jailed for six months.
But Christopher Gillon, who posted a video on YouTube about buying a knife for ‘retribution’ against the doctor, will be released next week after spending most of his term on remand.
Gillon, 25, began abusing Dr Angela Haselgrove, a psychiatrist who was treating his Asperger’s at St John’s Hospital in Livingston, West Lothian, after he claimed she refused to give him a referral allowing him to transition to a woman.
Livingston Sheriff Court heard Gillon had written a blog speaking of ‘Dr Haselgrove’s death’.
Kirsty Lyons, prosecuting, said Gillon became disgruntled after he thought she had wrongly diagnosed him with a borderline personality disorder. She said: ‘The doctor received a letter from the accused which appeared to rant about his dissatisfaction and blame it solely on the doctor. On April 26 he posted on to YouTube a video which shows the accused scrolling through images of knives for sale on eBay.’
In the video, Gillon says he is ‘looking for a knife that causes the greatest penetration’. He adds: ‘Why should she be female if I’m not allowed to live as one? Why should she be alive?’
The depute fiscal said a person in America was so concerned about the video that they contacted Police Scotland. And Dr Haselgrove reported Gillon to police after becoming concerned about a blog he wrote on October 30.
Gillon earlier admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner between April 1 and May 5, 2016, by repeatedly attempting to contact the psychiatrist, sending her a letter and posting offensive and abusive messages on social media. He also admitted breaching the Communications Act by making abusive remarks and threatening violence to the doctor on October 30.
Paul Haran, defending, said Gillon had been remanded at the Orchard Clinic in Edinburgh under a psychiatric order last year. But doctors felt he could be dealt with in the community and he was released after three weeks.
Mr Haran said: ‘It’s quite clear from the post in October – even reading it is quite difficult to try to understand – that it gives a flavour of his thinking process at the time.
Sheriff Hammond said that a custodial sentence was the only option available for Gillon, but the time he had already spent on remand would be taken into account.
Gillon was sentenced to six months in prison, backdated to November 3, 2016. He is due to be released next week.