A jilted husband sent his wife a picture of her clothes on fire and followed up with another WhatsApp message that asked: “any marshmallows?”
Raymond Craigie was furious that his wife had left him and moved in with a friend.
He turned up at the Newmachar property and demanded to read the messages on her mobile phone.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 55-year-old then returned home and sent the woman a picture message on WhatsApp that showed her clothes in flames.
He then followed up with a text message, asking: “any marshmallows?”
Craigie, who represented himself, told the court he had subsequently apologised for his actions.
‘I’m burning your clothes’
Fiscal depute Lydia Ross said Craigie’s wife had left the marital home on a couple of occasions at the end of October this year to stay with a family friend.
Days later, the woman received 36 messages on WhatsApp that were “sent in quick succession,” Ms Ross said.
The following day, Craigie’s wife and her friend were at her property when he attended and began shouting and speaking aggressively towards his wife.
Craigie then gained entry to the property, pursued his wife and grabbed her phone from her hand before handing it to her friend and telling her to check the messages.
He then walked towards his wife and said: “Don’t f****** come home. We’re done. I’m burning your clothes”.
Later that night, Ms Ross told the court that Craigie’s wife received two picture messages from her husband.
“They showed a pile of clothes she identified as hers on fire,” she said.
“She then received a further message stating: ‘any marshmallows?'”
The woman then contacted the police who cautioned and arrested Craigie.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of behaving in a threatening manner that was likely to cause a person to suffer fear or alarm.
‘I have apologised’
Representing himself, Craigie told the court that he was “looking for an explanation” from his wife as to why she had left him.
“I thought I could find out the reason from her phone,” he said.
“I have apologised to the woman affected and then through a third party to my wife. This was a one-off incident.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Craigie: “You have no previous convictions and this does seem to me like a one-off event.
“However, to be sure I’m going to defer sentence on you.”
Sheriff Johnston deferred sentence on Craigie, of Buchan Drive, Newmachar, for six months in order to prove he can behave himself.
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