A Paisley man has been convicted of terrorising his neighbours and their children in long-running “tit-for-tat” feud.
The spat between Desmond Meechan, 59, and families living nearby turned so sour he threatened to kill a pet cat and gestured to shoot kids while brandishing an electric drill.
Meechan denied the campaign of abuse, which was carried out between June 1, 2016, and July 21, 2018, claiming he had been harassed by the children, and his wife felt like a prisoner in her own home.
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But, following a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court, he was convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive way towards his neighbours.
Sheriff David Pender said: “There has been an element of tit-for-tat going on for several years.
“It’s clearly not been one-way traffic.”
And, despite fining Meechan for the abuse, the sheriff lifted restrictions which banned him from returning to Abbotsford Crescent, Foxbar, where the offences took place.
He added: “You are perfectly entitled to go back to Abbotsford Crescent — but you should do it sensibly.”
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The court had previously heard evidence from several of Meechan’s victims, who are too young to be named.
One 12-year-old boy told the trial: “He intimidates us — he comes out and he shouts at us.
“He does it to all of the women and children, but he never does it to men.
“One time he said, ‘who’s cat is that? I’m going to kill that f****** cat — I’m going to f****** stab it if it comes in my garden’.
“He came out and was shouting at us, swearing at us and saying stuff to us, like, ‘don’t play here’.
“My mum went along to introduce herself and he was saying, ‘get off my path’ and swearing at my mum.”
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The boy, who is at secondary school, said Meechan also regularly branded him and his friends “f****** animals” — and that he filmed and photographed them.
He explained: “He came out taking photographs of us.
“He said he was taking photographs of the view, but the camera was pointing straight at us.”
Another child told the court Meechan made shooting gestures towards him while holding a drill and pretending it was a gun.
The boy added: “He went in to his house and then came back out with a drill, acting like it was a gun.”
The youngster was also shown footage from a CCTV camera Meechan had installed on his house, which points towards the grass.
In one clip, Meechan came out of the house dressed in a vest and shorts and could be heard saying: “You better notπ come in my garden, I’m telling you.”
Meechan, who has since moved Thrushcraigs Crescent, was fined £400.
