A pair of Glasgow enforcers are behind bars after terrorising the parents of a Dundonian who allegedly racked up an £80,000 drug debt.
One of the debt chasers also attended at an Invergowrie property rented by the brother of the man they were seeking and burst the tenant’s tyres.
Both Lewis Goldfarb and Robert Notman admitted attempting to extort cash from their target’s parents in December.
Goldfarb was jailed for two years but Notman, who missed the hearing as he is recovering from a heart attack, will be sentenced in August.
Debt chasers
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Goldfarb and Notman went to the home of the parents of a man they believed owed significant drug debts in the west of Scotland.
The pair first attended in Coupar Angus Road on December 5 last year.
Home CCTV was triggered by the two debt chasers before a confrontation took place.
Fiscal depute Lora Apolstolova said: “At 12pm, the witness was at home when she became aware of a camera activation.”
The woman went outside and saw the two men getting out of a Transit van.
They began speaking with “prominent Glaswegian accents.”
Goldfarb said: “He owes 80 grand.
“This is his debts. We were told to come here.
“This will no’ go away. We’ll keep coming back. He knows who we are.”
Both men went to Invergowrie, to a property rented out by their target’s brother.
There, Goldfarb punctured all four tyres of a Nissan Qashqai in the drive, causing £300 of damage.
Return
A week later, the men returned to Dundee and began tormenting their target’s parents again.
At 5.45pm, the same woman was inside when she heard the doorbell ring and then banging at the front door.
She then heard someone shout “open the f***ing door” in a Glaswegian accent.
The woman phoned police and while speaking to a call handler, she heard more banging and glass being broken as Goldfarb smashed her window.
Police arrived within 10 minutes but the men were gone.
Officers discovered that before leaving, Goldfarb had caused £400 worth of damage by puncturing all four of the homeowner’s Transit van tyres and another £200 of damage to the window.
Goldfarb had also broken the home CCTV system off the wall and disappeared with it.
Both men were traced half an hour later and Goldfarb had a knife.
Heart attack in prison
Both Goldfarb and accomplice Notman pled guilty to attempting to extort cash by attending uninvited, acting aggressively and stating money was owed to people in Glasgow and that if it wasn’t paid, they would return.
The duo also admitted returning six days later to act in a threatening or abusive manner by possessing knives, banging on the door, breaking the window and slashing tyres.
Goldfarb alone admitted vandalising the car in Invergowrie, possessing a knife and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by taking the the CCTV system.
Both men have been remanded in HMP Perth since appearing in court since their capture.
Solicitor Brian Bell explained that recently while on remand, Notman had suffered a heart attack.
He has had a stent fitted and missed his hearing as he is recovering in Perth Royal Infirmary.
He added: “Mr Goldfarb indicates to me genuine remorse for his behaviour and does apologise.
“The background to the incident (is) he was asked by others to attend at two addresses in order to recover what he knew was drug debts.
“He accepts that his behaviour would have been frightening to the parents.
“There’s no threats of violence. It’s implied.
“He also accepts the damage.
“One of the most difficult things is that his young children have now visited him in prison.
“It was the financial pressure which caused Mr Goldfarb to behave in the way he did.”
‘Drugs having bad impact in Dundee’
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael ordered reports and deferred sentence on Notman, 45, until August.
Notman must be present at Dundee Sheriff Court for that hearing.
He jailed Goldfarb, 39, for 24 months and granted forfeiture of his knife.
The sheriff said: “I do see you regret getting involved in this.
“This is yet another situation where drugs are having a bad impact on Dundee.
“There is no option but a custodial sentence.”
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