Ex-ambulance boss jailed after axe wife chase

A former senior manager at the Scottish Ambulance Service has been jailed for a two-year campaign of terror against his wife. Picture: TSPL

• Grant Gordon given eight month prison sentence and £500 fine on domestic abuse and assault charges

• Gordon, 49, stalked partner using computer systems and bugged living room

• Former senior manager with Scottish Ambulance Service also threatened Maureen Gordon with axe

Grant Gordon, who was a senior manager with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), used staff computer systems to stalk his paramedic wife Maureen at work during a two-year campaign of terror.

The 49-year-old, who was responsible for all ambulance services in Fife, the Forth Valley and Tayside, also fitted recording devices in the living room of their home after becoming obsessed with the idea she was having an affair.

After an argument at the family home in Moodiesburn, near Glasgow, the father-of-three snatched a woodcutter’s axe from the garage and chased his wife into a bedroom. As she cowered in terror, he threatened to cut her throat with the axe.

On another occasion, Gordon, who led an anti-violence project while a director of the Welsh Ambulance Service, attacked his wife by punching her and dragging her along the ground.

Yesterday, Sheriff Robert Dickson hit out at the police and ambulance service for not dealing with complaints from Mrs Gordon. Gordon was found guilty of six charges, including two assaults, between April 2009 and May 2011 following a trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court last month.

Sheriff Dickson sentenced Gordon to eight months in prison and fined him £500.

He also imposed a three-year non-harassment order banning Gordon from contacting his wife or entering Moodiesburn.

Sheriff Dickson told Gordon: “Over a period of two years you terrorised your wife and you abused your position as a very senior member of the SAS.

“It is one of the worst cases of domestic abuse I have seen. I cannot deal with this in any way other than a custodial sentence.”

Gordon’s trial heard that he conducted a stalking campaign against his wife to keep track of her movements. Mrs Gordon, 49, was shocked by text messages from him asking why she was answering a call in the east end of Glasgow when there were other paramedic crews nearby.

It transpired that her husband had been using SAS computers to keep tabs on her.

Mrs Gordon, who is now in a new relationship, said the harassment “felt like it went on for a lifetime” and said she was always looking over her shoulder.

The GMB union hit out at SAS officials for failing to protect Mrs Gordon. Mick Conroy, senior organiser, said: “Maureen contacted several senior members of staff for help, but they did not support her.”

Gordon, now of Tayport, Fife, left his post before his case came to court. A spokesman for the SAS refused to comment.

• Just one in ten domestic abusers in Scotland jailed