Denny man jailed after admitting nearly two years of controlling domestic abuse

Jack Meechan, 32, kicked the 31-year old on the body, ground his fist into her eye, bombarded her with phone, text and email messages.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard that married Meechan began a relationship with her in January 2019, and the pair lived on-and-off together at her home in Grangemouth.

Their relationship ended due to Meechan's behaviour, but he continued to contact her and they sometimes met.

In September 2020 he called her and said, "This is a real threat. I'm going to kill you.”

In another call he said he had a 56-minute long video of her, including intimate footage.

During another incident he followed her upstairs at her home "acting irrationally and aggressively".

She went into her bedroom, closed the door, and dived under the covers for safety, but Meechan punched a hole in the door, burst through, picked up the mattress, and hurled it against the wall, before grabbing the wooden slats of the bed.

He then began "banging the slats together, smiling and laughing hysterically" and telling her "you're going to die today".

The court heard she was "terrified and frozen with fear".

On another occasion he told her, "You'll no be going on holiday. You'll no be going to nightclubs."

The woman blocked Meechan on all her social media and phone apps.

In July 2021 he "stumbled", apparently drunk, into a home in Denny where she was present at the time, and searched all the rooms in the house, shouting about her having a new partner.

The court was told that police were called about 10.20 pm, and found him in the rear garden, standing on top of an eight foot shed. When he refused to come down, police negotiators were called in.

He was eventually persuaded to get down at 5.00 am, and was arrested.

Meechan, of Denny, who appeared by video link at the court pleaded guilty to subjecting the woman to a course of domestic abuse between May 2019 and July 2021, breach of bail, and statutory breach of the peace.

Defence agent Gordon Addison said Meechan had become involved in an "obsessive" relationship with her, and he had since received help for abuse of alcohol and cocaine.

He told the court: "He comes from a solid Christian background.

"He has played sport at a high level and has represented his country.

"He was married, he is still married, and his estranged wife wishes to reconcile with him.

"Not all the behaviour which Mr Meechan has accepted was one-way traffic.

"He behaved very foolishly."

Sheriff Keith O'Mahony said: "I can only deal with this by a custodial disposal."

He jailed Meechan for 27 months, and imposed a non-harassment order requiring him to stay away from his former partner for 10 years.

Meechan shot to golfing fame when he was 14, being selected for the Wilson European Junior Team.

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