Pub landlady gets lifelong restraining order against man in row over smoking
A pub landlady has been granted a lifelong retraining order against a man who turned her life into ‘a living hell’ in a row that started over smoking.
Jacqueline McCaig spent more than £20,000 taking Paul Richardson through the civil courts, after his ‘threatening and intimidating behaviour’ over several years left her in fear for her safety.
She runs the Old Swan pub in Paisley in Scotland and Richardson previously lived in a flat above.
Ms McCaig, 45, said it all started when Richardson complained to bar staff about a customer smoking a cigarette in the doorway of his close.
This lead to an altercation in which Richardson shouted, swore and made threats of violence.
The kayak instructor was arrested and charged for the part he played in the furore, which he later pleaded guilty to.
Before entering the plea, Jacqueline claims he approached her in an effort to get the charges dropped.
She told the Glasgow Times: ‘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.’
She said he also come into the pub to order a drink ‘despite knowing he had been banned’.
‘I felt as though he was targeting me, my female staff and my business,’ MsMcCaig added.
‘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, Ms McCaig was told by there was nothing they could do as no crime had been committed.
She was eventually advised by officers to apply through the courts for a interdict, which can act as a restraining order in Scotland.
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 restraining order was finally given 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.
During cross examination, Ms McCaig 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 also told the court that Richardson made threats of ‘knowing gangsters’, while Ms McCaig 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. Meanwhile, he found Richardson’s evidence not wholly reliable.
During his evidence, 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 Ms McCaig.
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 Ms McCaig.
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.
Ms McCaig 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.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.