WHEN a woman suggested his dogs should be on a lead after they terrified children playing near a river, David Begg retorted it was the youngsters who should be on leads.
Begg was jailed for 13 months after Sheriff Derrick McIntyre told him: “I think the people of Jedburgh require a rest from your activities.”
Begg, 48, of Bountrees, Jedburgh, was sentenced to five months’ imprisonment for a “disgraceful breach of the peace” at The Glebe, Jedburgh, on May 28 last year.
Prosecutor Kate McGarvey told the hearing at Jedburgh last Friday that the accused was sitting on the grass with his partner when their dogs ran towards some children who were splashing in the river. She said the youngsters were frightened and started to cry.
A woman told Begg the dogs should be on a lead, to which he replied: “Your kids should be on f*****g leads. You’re f*****g scum.”
The woman began to walk away, but Begg continued to shout and swear, adding: “You should leave Jedburgh with your scumbag kids.”
Begg also pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Bountrees on July 17.
A neighbour was strimming grass around 9.45am when Begg appeared in the roadway, wearing only a towel, and began to shout and swear at him.
He told the man: “I’ll stick that f*****g strimmer up your arse”, before challenging him to fight and threatening to set his dogs on him.
Begg received a further two four-month jail terms after admitting breaching an ASBO at Howden Crescent, Jedburgh, on September 4, and again at Bountrees on December 16.
On September 4, he began shouting at a woman putting out a wheelie bin, leaving her frightened and scared.
And on December 16, a 76-year-old neighbour told how she had to “turn her hoover on to mask the noise” after Begg was shouting and swearing and creating a disturbance.
“His behaviour got worse after drinking alcohol,” explained Ms McGarvey, “and the woman said he was making her life a misery.”
Begg’s lawyer, Rory Bannerman, said his client wished to “unreservedly apologise to the good people of Jedburgh for his misconduct last year”.
Mr Bannerman added: “He was reported to the police by people who thought that he deserved to be reported, and he agrees with them.
“He accepts that alcohol was the fuel to his fire – a fire which raged out of control in 2012 – and he recognises that others would be upset and intimidated by his behaviour.
“He is not using alcohol to excess now, and is now in a better place to work within the community.”