Man escapes jail for sending threats to newspaper staff
A man who sent threatening emails to The Oban Times following a court report has been sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work.
Kevin Hobbs, 33, of 69 West Princess Street, Helensburgh, had previously pleaded guilty to causing fear and alarm to Oban Times staff, by emailing threatening and abusive remarks to a newspaper mailbox between April 2 and June 3, 2021.
Sheriff Patrick Hughes had deferred sentence until Wednesday February 23 for reports.
Reading the facts last Wednesday, procurator fiscal James Dunbar told Oban Sheriff Court that Hobbs had sent a total of 12 threatening or offensive emails to a general email address.
‘There are six occasions where the accused referred specifically to the editor,’ Mr Dunbar said. In them, he said Hobbs had referred to ‘the car she drove, and making her life a misery’. A witness, who read the emails, had been distressed by them.
After police were contacted by staff, ‘the accused was connected to the IP address,’ Mr Dunbar said.
During a 20-minute interview in Greenock, Hobbs admitted to officers that he did send the emails, and then said: ‘Can I just add something? It was not sent to anyone in particular. I just googled to get an email address.’
Defence agent Jane McLaren said Hobbs had felt a report in the newspaper could put members of his family ‘in the firing line, in relation to the matter he had been found guilty to’.
‘He wanted these emails to be disturbing, and they were disturbing,’ Ms McLaren said.
‘He accepts the content of the emails was not acceptable to anybody. He understands the media are allowed to report on anything in the criminal courts.
‘He deeply regrets sending these emails. He is somebody who committed these offences while alone and drinking excessively.
‘He is running out of community disposals. The only alternative left is custody, but we are not at that point yet. Isolating Mr Hobbs more will only go to enhance any further offending.
‘He has submitted a letter to The Oban Times giving his sincere apologies. He considers his actions deeply regrettable. He wishes everyone at The Oban Times all the best for the future.’
Sheriff Patrick Hughes said the threatening emails were ‘deeply alarming’ for staff, ‘not knowing who it is, or whether they will act on it’. The matter would justify a custodial sentence, he added, but instead he imposed a community payback order. ‘This is not an alternative to custody if the conditions are breached,’ he said. Hobbs was sentenced to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work over 15 months, as well as 15 months’ supervision by the social work department.