A taxi driver has avoided jailed after "hunting" his ex-girlfriend in stalking campaign that left her family terrified.
Bryan MacEwan, 27, hounded Shirley Williamson and her family repeatedly her after they split up, reports the Daily Record.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard how McEwan turned up at her door uninvited, banged on her window, looked in at her and sent her a flurry of desperate texts.
The trial also heard how MacEwan was also caught six times the legal limit at the wheel of his car in Paisley, Scotland.
He was convicted of a charge of engaging in a course of conduct likely to cause fear and alarm by repeatedly approaching Ms Williamson and waiting outside her home between August 2 and 17 last year.
He was convicted of driving a vehicle while the proportion of alcohol on his breath measured 133 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath
Witness Moira Wilson, 44, the sister of Ms Williamson, noticed MacEwan sitting outside her beauty salon.
PC Graham McIntosh, 28, told the court he was called to Ms Williamson’s home.
He found her in a distressed state after MacEwan showed up late at in the evening and banged on her window.
The court was told another neighbour had also gone to Ms Williamson’s door to see if she was okay after MacEwan showed up unannounced on another night.
Linda Paton had gone over to check after she spotted MacEwan “stumbling” out of his Renault Trafic motor and chapping on Ms Williamson’s door.
MacEwan, of Breck Avenue, Paisley, appeared for sentencing yesterday before Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill .
Defence agent David Nicholson said: “My understanding is these offences followed the breakdown of their relationship.
“All these things could be interpreted as ‘romantic gestures’ such were his feelings.
“He struggled to cope when their relationship came to an end.
“It was not an entrenched pattern of behaviour.”
The lawyer said MacEwan had since sought help to tackle his alcohol problem and realised he would be banned from the road as a result of his drink-driving conviction.
Sheriff Gill voiced concern over the way MacEwan had behaved towards his ex-girlfriend.
She said: “The complainer was left very frightened following the breakdown of the relationship. She was frightened for herself, frightened for her children.
“She felt, at times, she was being hunted by you.”
She added she would have jailed MacEwan but for his limited record and his young age.
He was handed mandatory supervision by the local authority for 12 months, and ordered to perform 150 hours of unpaid work in nine months.
He was also banned from the road for two years and handed a Non Harrassment Order lasting one year, barring all contact with Ms Williamson.
