GP convicted of terrorising neighbour was blamed for his wife's behaviour, court told

• Dr John McCallum and his wife Michele: He has this week been appealing his conviction for breach of peace Picture: Neil Hanna

Dr John McCallum, 50, who faces possible disciplinary action by the General Medical Council if his appeal fails, had been fined 2,500 for a breach of the peace which a sheriff described as "the most outrageous" of its kind that he had experienced in 20 years on the bench.

Dr McCallum's wife Michele, 50, was also found guilty and fined 2,500 over the incident with their neighbour, Rosaline Kinder, 49, in the capital's affluent Merchiston area in September 2008.

Yesterday, three judges in the Justiciary Appeal Court in Edinburgh heard submissions that the doctor's conduct had not amounted to a breach of the peace, and that the fines were "wholly excessive". The judges said they wanted time to consider their ruling, and would issue it later, on a date to be fixed.

The court heard the families had lived next to each other in Napier Road - the McCallums have since moved - and there had been a history of "unhappy differences". On the day of the offence, Mrs Kinder said she arrived home in her car with her son, five, but Dr McCallum, a 100,000-a-year GP, stood in the entrance and prevented her reversing into the driveway.

Mrs McCallum appeared on the scene, Mrs Kinder said, adding: "She tried to pull the door open. I managed to get it locked. I thought she was going to hit me."

Sheriff Graeme Warner convicted Dr and Mrs McCallum of putting Mrs Kinder in a state of fear and alarm and committing a breach of the peace.

At the appeal court, only Dr McCallum challenged his conviction, while he and his wife both argued that a 2,500 fine was too severe a penalty.

Margaret Scott, QC, for Dr McCallum, said he and his wife had faced separate charges, yet the sheriff appeared to have treated them as though they were acting together, and had held Dr Mc-Callum liable for the actions of his wife.

Ms Scott said there had to be "conduct severe enough to cause alarm to ordinary people" for the offence of breach of the peace to be committed. She conceded that Dr McCallum's conduct had amounted to obstruction, which lasted some seven minutes and would, no doubt, have been irritating, but it could not be classed as a breach of the peace, unlike his wife's behaviour.

The GMC was awaiting the outcome of the appeal before deciding whether disciplinary action should be taken against Dr McCallum.

"This was completely out of character. There has been damage to his reputation and potentially some damage to his professional career and, given the nature of the event, the sentence was wholly excessive," said Ms Scott.

Advocate-depute Alastair Carmichael said Dr McCallum's actions had to be viewed against the other circumstances. "The Crown suggests that, when taken in their context, his actions certainly do amount to a breach of the peace," he added.

Leading QC

Margaret 'Maggie' Scott, QC, has become one of Scotland's most sought after lawyers.

Born in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, in 1960, she was called to the bar in 1991 and "took silk" in 2002, becoming a QC.

Ms Scott has acted as lead counsel in a number of high-profile appeal cases such as the Lockerbie bombing and the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars, in which she defended Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Thomas 'TC' Campbell. She also handled the appeal case of Kim Galbraith, whose murder conviction for shooting her policeman husband was reduced due to diminished responsibility. She defended Tommy Sheridan in his perjury trial, before the former MSP decided to represent himself.