A HAWICK man who was abusive towards his former partner has been ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work at Jedburgh Sheriff Court as an alternative to custody.
Jay Gallagher also breached court orders by contacting the woman when he was barred from doing so.
The 28-year-old, of Ruberslaw Road, pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages to his ex on January 17 and broke his bail conditions by contacting her in July and September
despite a court ruling ordering him not to do so.
Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said Gallagher had been in a relationship with the woman for four or five years but they had broken up in April 2018.
He explained the couple had been exchanging text messages about child maintenance and Gallagher became abusive accusing her of "money grabbing" and calling her a "scrounger."
When interviewed by police he accepted he possibly did call her "money grabbing" saying "she always has been" and adding "she's a grass".
Sheriff Murdo MacLeod said he took a serious view of the matters but added he was able to deal with it by way of a non-custodial sentence.
He imposed 80 hours of unpaid work as part of a Community Pay Back Order for sending the threatening and abusive comments and a total of 60 hours for breaching bail by contacting his former partner.
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