A domestic abuser who kept tormenting his victim from behind bars has avoided being sent back to prison.
Gary Gallacher threatened and abused his former partner over the phone and in person while he was serving time, including while on home leave.
When he was freed from prison he stole designer shoes worth £6,000 and designer handbags valued at £10,000 from her home in a bid to exert control over her, although he later gave them back.
The relentless abuse was fuelled by a paranoid belief she was cheating on him, a court heard.
Gallacher, 34, was handed a community sentence at Livingston Sheriff Court.
He earlier pled guilty to engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his former partner at Castle Huntly, Perth and Shotts prisons, addresses in Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline and at Livingston Shopping Centre between June 1 2020 and February 8 2022.
Smashed up car
Neil Martin, prosecuting, said Gallacher had repeatedly phoned the woman and persuaded other people to contact her on his behalf when she refused to answer.
He kept demanding to know where she was and who she was with, accusing her of being unfaithful in a series of derogatory and threatening messages.
After being freed he forced her to give him the PIN for her mobile phone so he could find out who she had been calling and messaging.
On another occasion he smashed the windows and bodywork of her ex-husband’s Range Rover, causing between £3,000 and £3,500 worth of damage.
Mr Martin said Gallacher was in a car with the woman when he locked the doors and continued driving for about an hour, refusing to stop and let her out.
On a separate occasion he followed her car and when she stopped, threatened to smash the windows unless she let him in.
More serious allegations deleted from his guilty plea included assaults, threats to stab her, shoot her ex-husband, throw acid at her face and falsely allege she brought controlled drugs into a prison,
Denials he instructed her to place a camera in her bedroom to allow him to spy on her and he threatened to share intimate images of her with others were also accepted.
Sentencing
Chris Miller KC, defending, said Gallacher was “remorseful and ashamed of his actions” and would welcome social work supervision to help him understand the reasons for his behaviour.
The accused earlier promised in a letter to the court he would leave his life of crime behind in order to become a better role model for his teenage son.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Valerie Mays said: “You’ve been incarcerated for a large part of your adult life and you have a significant record, although I note there are no other domestically-aggravated offences.
“It’s clear you have made great strides since you were released and that you’ve reflected on past behaviours and appear to be committed to changing and moving forward.”
She went on: “I also note that this is a serious matter and some of the behaviour took place while you were serving a sentence and on home leave.
“Balancing all of these factor – in particular the fact that you’ve been out on licence and doing everything that’s asked of you, I find I’m, just, able to deal with this by way of an alternative to custody.”
She sentenced Gallacher to a community payback order comprising two years of supervision, a conduct requirement to comply with a rehabilitation programme for domestic abusers and 300 hours of unpaid work.
In addition, she imposed a non-harassment order barring him from contacting or attempting to contact the complainer for five years.
For more local court content visit our dedicated page or join us on Facebook.
