Abuser reversed car at speed towards ex-girlfriend during his trial at Perth Sheriff Court

A former garage boss menaced his ex-partner by reversing his car towards her outside Perth Sheriff Court after she gave evidence against him at a domestic abuse trial.

Kevin Nicoll’s ex-girlfriend spent the morning in the witness box tearfully recounting the abuse she suffered during their two-year relationship.

She told the court how he belittled and berated her during a trip to the shops and how she thought he would kill them both when a “red mist” descended on the drive home.

When she left court at the end of the first day of the trial, Nicoll reversed his car at speed towards her.

She said she had to push her friend – another witness – out of the way as the vehicle “came pretty close” before the brakes were slammed on.

Nicoll, 50, went on trial for a second time this year, denying he had behaved in a threatening or abusive manner in the Speygate car park behind the court on January 15.

He claimed he did not see his ex and insisted she was lying.

At the end of the two-day trial, Sheriff Derek Reekie said he found the ex-girlfriend and her friend “credible and reliable” witnesses and did not believe Nicoll’s “conspiracy theory”, with inconsistencies in his and another defence witness’ evidence.

“I am satisfied that this was an intentional act that was likely to cause fear or alarm,” he said.

He found Nicoll guilty of behaving in a threatening or alarming way by reversing a car at speed towards the two women, narrowly avoiding a collision.

Nicoll was further convicted of breaching bail conditions by approaching his ex.

He will be sentenced next month.

Witnesses left ‘bewildered’

The former girlfriend, 45, told the trial she left the court via a back door at about 4pm with her friend.

“We were kind of stopped in our tracks because a car started reversing towards us.

“We just though it was someone who hadn’t seen us.”

She said she did not recognise the vehicle.

“It kept coming closer and closer. It then shot back, quite rapidly.”

The witness continued: “The car came pretty close, so much so that I pushed my friend out of the way.

“Then the brakes slammed on hard.

“Me and my friend just looked at each other, bewildered.”

She then saw the driver looking at her in his rear view mirror.

The court also heard a member of Nicol’s family was in the back seat “screaming and shouting” and “hammering on the window.”

“My friend said to me: ‘Its them’.

“I knew she meant that it was Kevin and his family. I thought I recognised him when I saw the eyes in the car.”

‘I’m being painted as the bad guy’

In June, Nicoll, of Fairfield Avenue, Perth, was found guilty of engaging in a course of abusive conduct between December 1 2020 and January 31 2023.

The court heard how his then-girlfriend had to duck when he threw a glass tumbler towards her head at a house in Blairgowrie.

He smashed up a mobile phone she gifted him and punched through her glass front door.

The trial also heard how he berated and belittled his partner during a shopping trip in Dundee because he did not approve of her purchases.

On the drive back home, Nicoll twice told her he would kill them both.

Nicoll had repeatedly told the court the relationship was a “two-way streak” and complained: “I’m being painted as the bad guy here.”

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and a six-month non-harassment order was imposed.

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