A 32-YEAR-OLD man threatened to kill his partner during a bust-up after a night out.

Rafaele Pragliola pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the property in Cotgreen Road in Tweedbank on September 3.

Depute fiscal Alison Atkins told Selkirk Sheriff Court the incident took place at 20 to four in the morning when neighbours were woken up by a loud noise.

She said: “A neighbour looked out of the window and recognised the voice of the accused. His house window was open and he could be heard shouting for round 10 minutes.

“He was saying ‘or what?’, ‘no one can touch me, not even the police’, ‘no one is going to help you, not family members or police’, ‘I am going to kill you’."

The fiscal said Pragliola was making threats of violence towards his partner.

She continued: “One of the neighbours started to record the incident. The level of threats made them feel physically sick.

“An anonymous call was made to the police.”

In a separate matter Pragliola was spotted driving by police on mobile patrol at 10 to four in the afternoon and a check on the national computer revealed he was a disqualified driver.

He pleaded guilty to charges of driving while banned and no insurance.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said Pragliola, originally from Peterborough, had been out in Edinburgh with his partner for a night out and both had been drinking alcohol to excess.
When they got home they started arguing.

Regarding the driving while banned offence, it was explained he was disqualified for two years in September 2020.

But his partner had suffered a panic attack while driving his vehicle which she was not used to and he had taken over driving for a short period.

As he is still banned for another 10 months, Pragliola had six penalty points placed on his licence and ordered to carry out 70 hours unpaid work as an alternative to custody.

For the domestic incident involving his partner he was fined £200 with a £10 victim surcharge.