by Craig Borland

A FAIFLEY man has been spared a jail term for unleashing a torrent of drunken abuse towards his former partner.

Police could hear 39-year-old Paul Costello shouting at the top of his voice when they were called to a house in Milldam Road – and when they entered the property they found the woman in what was desrcibed as “an extreme state of distress”.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard the couple had separated at the beginning of 2016 after a 16-year relationship which included ten years of marriage.

Eoin McGinty, prosecuting, told the court Costello had phoned and texted his former partner while she was at work in a Glasgow hotel on June 16, demanding to know where she was and who she was with..

Mr McGinty told the court Costello's ex had stayed on after her shift to attend a seminar – but that when she returned home, he repeatedly shouted and swore at her, and that when he was repeatedly asked by police to calm down, he repeatedly replied: “Will I f***.”

Mr McGinty said Costello was arrested at the scene, but was not cautioned and charged because of his drunken state.

Brian McGuire, defending, said the incident was the result of drink combined with medication, and that the difficulties Costello was experiencing were “related in no small measure to the breakup of the relationship”.

Mr McGuire said Costello, of Craigpark Street in Faifley, was receiving help from the Goldenhill Resource Centre in Clydebank and that he acknowledged the seriousness of the offence.

Sheriff William Gallacher told Mr McGuire: “He entitled himself to pour drink down his throat and then behave in an utterly reprehensible way towards all concerned.

“He put himself in this position.”

Turning directly to Costello, the sheriff added: “This behaviour was hideous. Your wife had no basis at all to be subjected to this level of abuse.

“It has to be brought home to you that this cannot be tolerated at all.”

Costello was put on a nine-month supervision order and told to carry out one hundred hours of unpaid work within eight months.