Man fined for threatening foetus

A man has been fined £360 for threatening a foetus during a row with the unborn child's mother. Iain MacKay said he would kill the child while it was still in the womb as he argued with the woman, who was more than eight months pregnant at the time. The 36-year-old, from Stirling, made the threats on 28 October 2011 when the mother woke him as he was sleeping off an all-day drinking session.

MacKay admitted "making threats of violence towards an unborn child". He also pleaded guilty to shouting, swearing, clenching his fist and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner. Stirling Sheriff Court heard that he had called the mother "a fat cow" before threatening the unborn child.



Prosecutor Kevin Corrins said: "He walked towards her [the expectant mother] with his fist drawn back and clenched and said 'I'm going to kill that'. It was clear to her that he was referring to her unborn child." He said MacKay was embarrassed to have to sit in the dock and listen to what he had done and told the court the child's mother had quickly forgiven him.

"He made inexcusable comments in a drunken rage," Mr Maguire told Sheriff Fiona Tait. "The mother has now given birth, and mother and child are both well. There is nothing I can say to explain why he said what he did." Imposing the fine, Sheriff Tait said it was a "particularly nasty and unsavoury incident".