A CLACKS man who subjected a woman friend to an all-night ordeal of terror after becoming jealous over a phone call, has been jailed for 40 months.

Grant Ferguson, 52, held her prisoner for more than ten hours, beat her with a baseball bat and hammer, threw her phone down the toilet when she tried to phone for help, pulled her back inside when she ran for help, and tried to set fire to her duvet as she cowered beneath it.

Ferguson and the then 58-year-old woman had been friends for years but were not in a relationship.

He had been helping her move packing cases into a new home in Raploch, Stirling, on January, 31, 2020, Falkirk Sheriff Court heard last Wednesday, August 18.

At around 9pm, the woman phoned another male friend and this made Ferguson "angry and jealous".

Prosecutor Mrs Alex Kirk said he took the baseball bat from one of her packing cases and struck her on the head with it, and picked up a hammer and struck her on the hand and shoulder.

She was knocked to the floor, bleeding profusely, and feigned unconsciousness in an attempt to prevent further assault, before, after about an hour when Ferguson's attention was distracted, opening the door and trying escape.

The terrified woman got as far as the front fence before Ferguson grabbed her and dragged her back.

As she hid under a duvet he attempted to set fire it by lighting items of her mail with a cigarette lighter and throwing them onto the bedding.

Mrs Kirk said that as the night wore on, every time the woman noticed someone walking past the house, in busy Drip Road, she ran to the window to shout for help – "but every time he managed to grab her and push her back onto the couch before striking her on the head with the baseball bat for trying to get help".

The depute fiscal said: "She was struck with the baseball bat, mainly on the head, on an least 13 occasions, and on the hand with the hammer on at least six occasions."

It was not until 7.10am the next day, a woman neighbour heard a smoke alarm sounding, and the woman screaming, "Please, please phone the police – call the police".

The witness did so, Ferguson was arrested, and the complainer was taken by ambulance to Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

She was initially thought to have a number of fractures, but X-rays revealed no breaks.

However, her hand and arm were badly swollen, and she had numerous lacerations and significant bruising on the head.

The court was told the case was initially earmarked for the High Court, but after Ferguson instructed lawyers to offer a plea of guilty it went ahead at sheriff court level.

Ferguson, of Clackmannan, pleaded guilty to abduction, assault to danger of life, and culpable recklessness.

Solicitor Ken Dalling, defending, said that he had "been subject to excessive drinking for a significant part of his adult life".

Mr Dalling said: "This is a serious chapter of offending, involving as it does an assault to the danger of the life of Mr Ferguson's victim, but thankfully the actual injuries sustained were not particularly serious, although there was of course the potential."

Sheriff Simon Collins QC jailed Ferguson for 40 months and imposed a 12-month supervised release order.

He said: "A significant custodial sentence is inevitable in this case. But for the plea I would have sentenced the accused to five years."