A yob has been locked up after trying to steal an ambulance.
Jason Grant was unsuccessful but later got behind the wheel of another vehicle and used it as a weapon by chasing and repeatedly ramming a taxi.
The 27-year-old appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court and also admitted a campaign of domestic abuse towards his ex-partner.
Grant tormented the pregnant woman with repeated abusive phone calls and messages, frequently demanding to know her location and accusing her of being with other men.
Fiscal depute David Ballock said Grant began to display “controlling” behaviour when his partner ended their relationship.
While the woman was pregnant with Grant’s child, he repeatedly phoned her and sent her abusive messages calling her a “slag”, “prostitute”, “slut” and “cow”.
Abusive messages
Mr Ballock told the court: “The accused would regularly demand that the complainer send him her location or explain her whereabouts.
“He would often accuse her of being with other men, and would tell her not to move on with anyone else.”
Around 10.50pm on January 26 this year, Grant phoned the woman and demanded she send him her location.
She refused and, between 4am and 5am the following morning, she was woken by the sound of a car horn outside.
On looking outside she saw Grant in a vehicle trying to see into her house, which made her uncomfortable.
Grant eventually drove off but at 8am the woman was again woken by numerous phone calls.
When she answered, Grant accused her of “sleeping about” and shouted down the phone in a threatening manner.
The woman’s mother contacted the police to report the incident.
Ambulance incident
While officers were taking a statement from the complainer, Grant continued to repeatedly phone and message her.
She told the police she had made it clear to Grant she did not wish to be with him and was “scared” of what he might do next.
Meanwhile, around 4am on January 27, paramedics outside the accident and emergency department at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary heard a male shouting and excessive revving coming from an ambulance.
On investigation, they found Grant in the driver’s seat of the ambulance attempting to drive it away.
When challenged, Grant got out and walked into the hospital where he was lost to view.
A few hours later at around 7.40am, a taxi driver picked up a passenger from Urquhart Road who appeared to be having an argument with Grant, who was driving another vehicle.
As the taxi drove along Urquhart Road, Grant used his vehicle to strike the taxi from behind.
Accused repeatedly rammed taxi
In a bid to try and evade further contact, the taxi driver turned right onto King Street but was quickly rammed again.
Concerned for both his own safety and that of his passenger, the frightened cabbie continued along King Street with Grant following behind.
As they approached the St Machar Drive roundabout, Grant rammed the vehicle a third time.
Finally, Grant drove off and the taxi driver was able to turn around and drive to Nelson Street police station.
The vehicle Grant had been driving was traced on Spa Street later that day.
Checks revealed it did not belong to Grant and that he was disqualified from driving, having been banned for 10 years in 2018.
Grant, of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his ex-partner.
He also admitted attempting to steal an ambulance, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
Defence agent Tony Burgess passed Sheriff Craig Findlater a hand-written letter from Grant along with a picture of his youngest child.
‘On reflection, he would do things differently’
Turning to the offences, he said: “Mr Grant tells me that, on reflection, he would do things differently.
“He wishes he hadn’t done what he has done.”
Mr Burgess explained Grant is motivated to change his ways but finds it difficult.
He added that Grant had missed the birth of two children while in custody and “wants to be a figure that they could look up to”.
Regarding the taxi incident, Mr Burgess said there was “bad blood” between his client and the passenger and that “the red mist came down”.
He continued: “No one is more regretful of what he did.
“It’s down to a lack of consequential thinking and his inability to think about what it is he’s doing there and then.”
Addressing the domestic offence, Mr Burgess said: “He went completely off the rails in terms of how he dealt with the break-up, not least because she was pregnant.”
Sheriff Findlater jailed Grant for 22 months backdated to March 4 when he was first remanded.
He also banned him from driving for 10 years and 11 months and imposed a five-year non-harassment order.
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