Desperate dad's bid to see children again ends in swear fest at Falkirk Sheriff Court

Stephen Cram, 40, appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having admitted threatening behaviour in the court building on January 27 last year.

Procurator fiscal depute Steven Lynch said: “The accused had a child welfare hearing along with the witness, who is the mother of his children. On arrival at the court the accused and the woman were placed together in the same witness room.

"She attempted to enter the witness room and tried to sit some distance away in order to avoid him. As she walked past the accused he started swearing at her calling her a bitch.

"He told police ‘she stopped me seeing my kids’.”

Simon Hutchison, defence solicitor, said: “He is missing his children desperately.”

Sheriff Alison Michie responded: “I doubt his actions on this day assisted him.”

“It was extremely unfortunate they got put in the same room,” said Mr Hutchison. “He accepts he shouldn’t have said anything. It’s a case of provocation and he gave into that provocation.

"This break up has just been a total disaster for him.”

Sheriff Michie noted the offence happened in the court building and Cram, 30 Manor House Road, Dollar, had three previous convictions for domestic offending and told him he had come “perilously close to custody”.

She placed him on a community payback order with the condition he complete 105 hours of unpaid work with 12 months. He was also made subject to a non-harassment order not to contact his former partner for two years.