A MAN caught threatening his ex with a hammer when she appeared in his street during lockdown has been banned from any contact with her – again.

Jordan McCall, 32, previously pleaded guilty to having the weapon in Crannog Road, Dumbarton, on May 31 last year. The offence was aggravated by being against a partner or ex.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week how police received a 999 call from McCall’s ex stating he was approaching her car with a hammer.

On arrival, police found no on-going incident.

The woman said McCall had had the hammer and came at her with it. Officers saw a red handled claw hammer in the rear footwell of McCall’s vehicle.

McCall, previously of Ivanhoe Road, Paisley, and now of Colquhoun Road, Dumbarton, was seen on CCTV getting out of his vehicle with the hammer. He walked towards his ex’s car, but stopped as he saw her start to film him and returned to his own car.

He was already subject to a non-harassment order (NHO) to prevent contact with his ex.

Defence solicitor Gail Campbell said McCall’s ex herself also had two NHOs to prevent her contacting McCall or his current partner.

The incident happened in his street, but the ex lived in Renfrewshire.

Ms Campbell said: “[McCall] had no idea why, in the middle of lockdown, she would be in his street. There had been a number of threatening phone calls. Quite simply, he acted in a manner he can’t contemplate.

“There is a record but he has stayed out of trouble for at least four years.

“I told him he could go to jail for this. It seems to be the first time someone told him this. He has a lot to lose.

“I think my words to him this morning were perhaps the words he needed.”

Sheriff John Hamilton told McCall he had seen seen such cases go “horribly wrong” so many times. “Someone would claim it was just for protection, and it ends up with a murder charge and a body in the street,” he said.

“It seems clear that you were not handling the end of the relationship very well,” said Sheriff Hamilton. “You must understand it’s not appropriate to pick up a hammer when going to her car.

“If you pick up a weapon again, you’re going to jail.”

McCall was put on a community payback order with 12 months of supervision by social workers. He must also do 250 hours of unpaid work in the community within that time. A new NHO was imposed to prevent any contact with McCall’s ex for two years.