A police officer who smashed a window with stones in a neighbour dispute was fined £520 today. Jacqueline O'Neill, 49, launched the missiles from her garden in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, on May 17 2022.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard there was previous "history" between now suspended road policing officer O'Neill and a married couple next door. The 38-year-old man woke his 39-year-old wife in the early hours of the morning after hearing noises outside.
The woman told the court that she looked out of her attic ensuite window. Prosecutor Gail Campbell asked what the witness heard. She replied: “I could hear the noise of stones hitting the glass window of the ensuite - we could see it. We saw her [O'Neill] throw the stones from her garden.”
The witness added that she noticed one of her windows had "shattered." Miss Campbell asked how she felt about the incident and replied: “Terrified, horrified.”
The witness went on to phone the police.
Miss Campbell said: “If the court heard evidence that she wasn’t standing in her garden what do you say to that?” The woman: “I would say there was something corrupt going on, I would question how my window got smashed and how the stones got there.”
The woman claimed that O'Neill drove her car at her then 11-year-old daughter on March 28 2022. She stated that her daughter went to collect her brother from school with another girl.
O'Neill meantime returned home and spoke with the woman after parking her car. Miss Campbell asked what was said. She replied: “Ha ha, next time I won’t miss.”
The witness claimed that she did not know what she meant, initially believing it to be about O'Neill hitting her car with a bin. Her daughter then returned home.
The woman stated that the girl was “hysterical.” The woman added: “She was crying, shaking and said ‘That woman next door tried to knock me down’.”
Miss Campbell: “Who did you take her to be identifying as the woman next door?” The witness: “Jacqueline O’Neill.”
She stated that she felt “really sick and anxious” after putting the story together. Sheriff Matthew Jackson KC found O'Neill not proven on a charge of careless driving.
But, he found her guilty on a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. She was also convicted of wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another without a reasonable excuse.
Thomas McMurtrie, defending, told the court that O’Neill’s employment history includes the ministry of defence and the UK border agency. The lawyer also put forward eight references from colleagues including a sergeant and an inspector.
He added: “There was a toxic nature between the two neighbours. She has moved house during this process and this has had an impact on her “The fact she is willing to move on by selling her house and leaving the area shows the type of person she is considering the emotional experience it was.”
Sheriff Jackson rejected a request for an absolute discharge stating it was “not appropriate” as there were two separate incidents. He said: “You are a first offender and a serving police officer with references from colleagues who hold you in the highest regard.
“That’s what makes the fact you have this conviction troubling and baffling. You are an extremely valuable and useful person in our society but on this occasion you were anything but that.”
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