A SPURNED boyfriend armed himself with a kitchen knife and threatened to murder his partner’s non-existent secret lover in a drunken rage.

Neil Gibson lost the plot with Rebecca Barr and, believing she was cheating on him, bombarded her with insults in an alcohol-fuelled rant at their home.

The details emerged this week when 31-year-old Gibson appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to be sentenced over the rammy.

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He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive way by shouting, swearing and threatening violence whilst in possession of a large knife.

Procurator fiscal depute Frankie Morgan told the court the incident took place at about 6.45pm on April 22 this year at the home the coupled shared with their two children in Gleniffer Crescent, Elderslie.

He said: “The accused and Rebecca Barr were engaged in an argument. She asked the accused to leave. He believed Rebecca Barr was having an affair.

“At around 6.45pm, she heard shouting coming from outside. She looked out the window and observed the accused to be entering into the common close, staggering towards the entrance.”

It was stated that Ms Barr phoned Gibson’s stepfather to ask him to intervene but, as the front door was unlocked, Gibson made his way inside.

Mr Morgan added: “He entered the kitchen and began to rummage around the kitchen drawers, taking out a knife, and stated ‘I’m going to kill him, I’m going to murder him’.”

Gibson’s stepdad then arrived, as did the police, and he was detained.

When cautioned and charged by officers, Gibson replied: “She’s been having an affair.”
Gibson had also been accused of assaulting four police officers but that charge was dropped by prosecutors.

Defence solicitor Rhona Lynch told the court: “He was going through a very difficult time. It was the break-up of a 10-year relationship.

“Over the last year, the couple were going through difficulties which drove them apart.

“He formed the impression that the complainer had been unfaithful to him and it was against that background that this offence was committed.”

Gibson had never been in trouble before the offence, which he pleaded guilty to earlier this year.

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Sentence had been deferred for him to be of good behaviour but, when he returned to the dock to learn his fate, it emerged he had racked up another conviction for a similar offence, which saw him given a Community Payback Order (CPO), placed on a Restriction of Liberty Order and banned from approaching or contacting his ex-girlfriend as part of a Non-Harassment Order.

Sheriff Lindsey Kooner could have jailed Gibson for up to a year for the offence but opted instead to place him on another CPO, giving him four months to carry out a total of 100 hours of unpaid work.