A PUB landlord has been granted a lifelong restraining order against a former neighbour who turned her life into a ‘living hell’ – in a row over smoking.
Mum Jacqueline McCaig spend over £20,000 pursuing Paul Richardson through civil court for three years.
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Jacqueline McCaig spend over £20,000 pursuing Paul RichardsonCredit: SWNS
She claimed his ‘threatening and intimidating behaviour’ left her in fear for her safety.
Jacqueline runs the Old Swan pub in Paisley, Renfrewshire and Richardson previously lived in a flat above.
He ended up being charged and pleading guilty to a part in an altercation that saw him shout, swear and make threats of violence.
The incident arose after he complained to bar staff about a customer smoking a cigarette in the doorway of his close.
Jacqueline told the Glasgow Times it then sparked a campaign of harassment.
She said: “He seemed to think that because I ran the pub, I could get the charges against him dropped, something that I had no control over whatsoever.
“He started out quite reasonable, but this changed, and he became more intimidating.
”He’d be waiting for me to open up in the morning or standing outside as I locked up at night.
“His actions put me on edge and made me feel very uncomfortable.
”On one occasion he stood across the street in the pouring rain taking pictures for five and half hours.
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”He also came into the pub and tried to order a drink, despite knowing he had been banned.
“I felt as though he was targeting me, my female staff and my business.
“I genuinely thought I was going to be seriously harmed by him at some point. That’s how scared I felt.
“My life became a living hell – I was constantly wondering when or where he’d show up next. I was so worried that I was unable to sleep at night.”
Despite making several complaints to police, Jacqueline was told by officers there was nothing they could do as no crime had been committed.
She was eventually advised by officers to apply through the courts for an interdict.
She said: “It felt like it was the only way forward. Taking him to court was the only solution to get him to leave me alone.”
The court was told Richardson’s behaviour had intensified from April to August 2021, culminating in an interim interdict being granted, before a lifelong order was finally granted on March 21 this year.
In his judgement, Sheriff Bruce Erroch KC said that Richardson had displayed abusive and vulgar sexual language towards Jacqueline that constituted a legal wrong.
On various occasions the hearing found he stared and stood outside the close entrance next to the pub, smirking and laughing at Jacqueline when she was arriving for work.
His manner was described as ‘angry and intimidating’.
The sheriff also found that Richardson’s threats of violence, harassment and threatening conduct had caused her to suffer fear, alarm and distress.
The lawman said Richardson had shown an intention to persist in his conduct towards her and decided that a lifelong interdict should be granted.
During cross examination, Jacqueline told the court how she felt in serious fear for her life and that Richardson had acted in a way as to terrorise her.
Witnesses, who the sheriff deemed to be trustworthy and believable, also told the court that Richardson made threats of ‘knowing gangsters’, while Jacqueline claimed he was deliberately confrontational, sought her out and targeted her.
Sheriff Erroch KC described her as ‘an impressive witness’ who gave her evidence in a moderate and straightforward manner.
He said her account of events were in line with her averred case and found Richardson’s evidence not wholly reliable.
During his evidence, kayak instructor Richardson said he did not recall being barred from the pub and that his issues had arisen due to cars parking in the loading bay in Smithhills Street, preventing him from loading his van.
He said he had raised the issue with Renfrewshire Council and claimed he had never gone into the pub while barred, used foul language or made any vulgar comments towards Jacquline.
He disagreed that he had a vendetta against her and said that ‘he was not a man of violence or dishonesty’.
He also said police confirmed complaints made against him were never considered to be of a criminal nature and denied ever waging a campaign to upset Jacqueline.
It remained his position throughout the hearing that there was never any pattern of behaviour which could have caused her fear, alarm or distress.
Despite his position, the order was granted by the sheriff, meaning that he can no longer approach or contact the pub licensee or face criminal proceedings.
Jacqueline, 45, added: “It has been years of absolute hell just to get this man stop.
Now if he breaches the lifelong interdict, it immediately becomes a criminal matter and the police must act. I just want to move forward with my life and never see him again.
“The trauma and strain of the past near-five years turned my day-to-day life into a nightmare. I’m so relived the judge ruled in my favour.”
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Solicitor Matthew Coffield from MJC Law, who represented Jacquline in court, says she endured years of intimidation at the hands of Richardson.
He added “No one should have to endure what Jacqueline went though. I’m pleased the sheriff had the conviction to grant a lifelong interdict.”