He terrified former partner with angry outburst at home

flared. Kimberley was alleged to have been injured during the incident, which led to Ballantyne being charged with assault.

He had a not guilty plea to hurting his ex accepted but was convicted of “behaviour likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm”.

First offender Ballantyne was handed 100 hours of unpaid work and banned from going within 10 metres of Kimberley.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard that the couple separated in 2017.

A source said: “Ballantyne had never been in trouble before so this sentence is severe. But the incident left everyone who was in the house scared.

“When he grabbed his son, things only got worse. This conviction ends his career as a close protection officer.”

Speaking from his home in Barrhead, Renfrewshire, Ballantyne said: “This was an incident that took 15 seconds to happen.

“I was cleared on the charge relating to assault. I basically told her sister to F- off and got arrested. Because my ex made the complaint to police, it’s been treated as a threat against her but that’s not the case.”

“I’ve left my job because of problems with my ex-partner.”

During his eight- year stint with SecuriGroup, Ballantyne protected a number of high- profile clients. He also provided security for prominent SNP supporters and Hollywood stars Brian Cox and Alan Cummings during the highly charged referendum campaign.

Since then, he has continued to work with Salmond and Sturgeon at events including the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

SecuriGroup said Ballantyne no longer worked for them.