A farmer has admitted threatening behaviour after calling a government worker a “little p****”
Christopher Barclay had become frustrated with the slow progress of his grant funding application when he made a call to the Scottish Government Agricultural Office.
His solicitor told the court that Barclay “lost his sense of decorum” when leaving a voicemail after “significant delays” in claiming for work he had already completed.
Barclay appeared before Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident on January 14 of 2021.
Commucation break down
Fiscal depute Shay Treanor told the court that Barclay had initially contacted the agricultural office in 2019 for information about grant funding for habitat planning on his farm.
The incident in 2021 came after “communications eventually broke down”.
“This led to, on 14 January, the accused contacting a member of staff by phone and leaving a voicemail,” Mr Treanor said.
The voicemail included Barclay, of Boggiewell, Fortrose, calling the staff member a “little p****”.
“The member of staff was sufficiently concerned that he contacted police,” the fiscal depute concluded.
Solicitor John MacColl, for Barclay, explained that his client had invested “many thousands of pounds” sowing environmentally friendly crops which take carbon out of the air and enrich the soil.
He said: “The way that the scheme works is that the grant is applied for and processed and granted but work is carried out at the farmer’s expense. They then submit the claim.”
Farmer ‘lost decorum’ after delays
Unfortunately, Barclay’s claim faced “significant delays” and he “lost his sense of decorum” before making the call.
Mr MacColl said that his client’s issues had since been successfully resolved in civil court, confirming to Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald that Barclay had received recompense of £37,000.
“Which was £15,000 less than what I was supposed to get,” Barclay interrupted from the dock.
Handing down her sentence, Sheriff MacDonald told Barclay: “This is now your third conviction for threatening or abusive behaviour.
“There is absolutely no excuse for behaving in an abusive manner, especially towards someone who was just doing their job.”
She fined him £940