A MAN has been fined £400 after threatening to make his pregnant girlfriend’s life “a living hell”.

The 34-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pled guilty to one charge at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.

The court heard that the complainer and the accused had been in a relationship for around four months at the time of the offence. She was in the early stages of pregnancy.

On April 3, the woman attended an appointment at the social work office in Ardrossan’s Aitken Place. She was upset when she arrived and went to an interview room where she was consoled by staff members. They noticed her phone was continually ringing and that she was ignoring it. During her time in the social work office, the woman received 30 missed calls from the accused. The couple had had an argument earlier and she did not wish to answer.

The woman then received a call from an unknown number and answered. On the advice of social workers, she put it on loudspeaker. She recognised the voice of the accused. She asked him to bring some of her belongings, particularly clothes, to the locus and said she would not speak to him when he arrived.

There followed a brief conversation about their unborn child. This enraged the accused who shouted and swore at her, calling her “a f*****’ liar”. The woman said she was ending the call, to which the accused replied: “Before you do I swear on my life and my family’s life I will make your life a living hell. I’ll make sure you don’t get your kids.”

She ended the call and social workers called the police. Defending the accused, solicitor Peter Murray said that his client and the complainer had now resumed their relationship.

He also said that the woman had doubts over continuing with the pregnancy and this had made the accused anxious.

He added: “It is accepted there were a number of calls over that time. “There were decisions about the child. He accepts he was angry and upset and at what might happen. They reconciled and have continued over the last five months without any difficulties.”

Sheriff Shirley Foran told the accused: “It should cross your mind that one of the factors in wishing to continue with a pregnancy are whether or not there’s a caring partner on the scene.”