Dennistoun woman, accused of sending Council Leader threatening letter only wanted her attention

An aggrieved woman wanted to get the leader of Glasgow City Council’s attention when she sent her an alleged threatening letter, a court heard yesterday. Amanda McCutcheon, 46, claimed she wanted to speak to Susan Aitken about the “dilapidated” flat she lives in and felt she had run out of options.

She accepted she sent her a letter with the phrase “I was wondering if you a have a death wish” and claimed she was asking if Ms Aitken wanted a death on her conscience and it wasn’t a threat.

McCutcheon posted comments on social media about Ms Aitken, and turned up at the City Chambers in Glasgow city centre to try and speak to her.

She allegedly told social care worker, Karen McDonald, she was going to “kick” Ms Aitken’s head in, an allegation McCutcheon denies.

The mum-of-two, from Dennistoun, Glasgow is on trial at the city’s sheriff court for allegedly stalking Ms Aitken between January and March this year.

She said her eldest child is unable to live with her because of her housing situation and that she has been in temporary accommodation since January 2011.

Asked about the tenement flat she lives in she described it as “dilapidated” and “disgusting”.

She also claimed the social care worker she has been dealing with for years hasn’t helped her and the court heard someone else has been allocated her case now.

McCutcheon told the court she sent a letter to Ms Aitken, recorded delivery, on January 30.

Defence lawyer Ian Sievwright asked McCutcheon: “Can you explain why you sent that letter to the leader of Glasgow City Council?”

She replied: “By that time I sent this letter, I was so angry and frustrated with the system, the people I had been dealing with.

“I had no option but to contact the leader of Glasgow City Council with an angry letter warning that there was a situation arising and it wasn’t going to be good.”

She was asked what she meant by “I was wondering if you have a death wish”.

McCutcheon said: “I mean does she want to have a death on her conscience, mine."

She said: “That’s the way I felt, I have been through every emotion, I have felt suicidal, I have felt frustration, anger, let down, all sorts of things.”

She told the court she contacted Mrs McDonald and was told she had been allocated her case.

McCutcheon said she was “exasperated” by this point and the conversation “got quite heated” but that she didn’t make any threats of violence about Ms Aitken.

She added: “I did say I would contact Councillor Aitken and bail conditions really didn’t matter.”

On March 2, McCutcheon was arrested by police who took her from her flat to Baird Street police office where she was later charged with stalking Ms Aitken.

Officers claimed McCutcheon threatened to attack Ms Aitken the following Monday if they kept her in over the weekend, but in her evidence she denied this allegation.

Mr Sievwright asked: "Were you intending to cause fear and alarm towards the leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken?"

McCutcheon replied: "It's not fear and alarm, more getting her attention to this situation."

The court also heard Mrs McDonald who took a phone call from McCutcheon on February 23, this year.

The witness she explained to McCutcheon that they would try and help her but she had to work with them.

She said McCutcheon was nice to her on the phone but that changed when Susan Aitken was mentioned.

Mrs McDonald said: “At that point the conversation just changed, she did become really quite annoyed and aggressive in her tone.

“The first thing Amanda said, she knew her situation wasn’t our fault, it was ‘that bitch Susan Aitken’s fault’.

“It kind of went on from there. That she was ‘going to kick that f** b*’s head in’. She just got so angry.”

The court heard Mrs McDonald put to her that it sounded like a threat and McCutcheon replied “Damn right it’s a threat” and went on to say “bail conditions wouldn’t stop her”.

During cross-examination Mrs McDonald confirmed to Mr Sievwright that McCutcheon had been in temporary accommodation in Dennistoun for years.

She claimed McCutcheon did not “engage” with the service and has been offered other accommodation which she hasn’t accepted including one permanent accommodation.

The court also heard evidence that McCutcheon turned up to Glasgow City Chambers on February 21 and “demanded” to see Ms Aitken and that she swore at staff.

McCutcheon denies the charge and the trial before sheriff Lindsay Wood continues.