A man threatened to dig up his ex-partner’s dog from his grave and take a picture of it, a court has heard.
David Boyle made the bizarre threat during a string of abusive messages that he sent to the woman over a two-day period.
His solicitor told the court: “Mr Boyle was upset but he cannot behave like this.”
Boyle, 48, was not present at a sentencing hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court, where Sheriff Gary Aitken dealt with the case in his absence.
He had previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of threatening or abusive behavior in relation to the incident, which took place between July 16 and 18 last year.
The charge details how, during that period, Boyle repeatedly telephoned and sent threatening messages to the woman.
Fiscal MP David Morton told Sheriff Gary Aitken that the charge largely spoke for itself.
Man threatened to ‘dig up dog’
He added: “He would threaten to dig up her dog from its grave and take a picture of it” adding that there were also other threats.
Mr Morton revealed the woman received around 40 messages over the two-day period.
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Boyle, told the court: “His conduct appears to have been in response to other matters.
”Mr Boyle was upset but he cannot behave like this.”
Sheriff Aitken made Boyle, of Mansfield Estate, Tain, the subject of a community payback order with a year’s supervision and imposed a non-harassment order preventing him from approaching or contacting the woman for the same period.
The sentence came just a day after Boyle was placed on a community payback order with 12 months of supervision at Tain Sheriff Court for a breach of the peace charge relating to an incident in August of last year.
On this occasion, Boyle caused a “vulnerable” teenager fear and alarm by shouting as he walked past her home.
It was accepted that the shouting on this occasion was not directed at the teen.