A GARELOCHHEAD man has been told to stay out of trouble for the next six months after he admitted a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner against a Helensburgh resident.

William Godfrey, 49, of Feorlin Way, appeared in court on Friday for sentencing after pleading guilty to behaviour likely to cause fear or alarm by driving past the woman’s home address in MacLeod Drive on April 30.

Godfrey originally faced a more serious charge of engaging in a course of conduct intended to cause fear or alarm to his victim by repeatedly following the woman within his vehicle and repeatedly driving past her home address, but his plea of guilty to the lesser charge was accepted by the Crown.

When the case previously called at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, Godfrey’s solicitor asked the presiding sheriff to consider granting his client an absolute discharge, but after reading a background report, Sheriff John Hamilton told Friday’s hearing that it appeared Godfrey did not think he had done anything wrong.

Sheriff Hamilton said that meant he would not be granting the request for an absolute discharge; instead he convicted Godfrey of the charge against him and deferred sentence until June 2018 for him to be of good behaviour.