A FORMER Inverclyde teacher has been spared prison after he was convicted of ‘calculated’ and ‘cruel’ abusive conduct towards a teenager over the course of two-and-a-half years.

Paul Murtagh, 42, was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards the young man - who was not a pupil of his - following a trial at Greenock Sheriff Court last month.

He caused the teenager to suffer fear or alarm by shouting, swearing, making violent threats and repeatedly moving his possessions.

Murtagh was employed as a secondary school teacher in Inverclyde at the time of the offence, between July 2021 and January 2023, but the local authority previously confirmed that this is no longer the case.

READ MORE: Greenock man found guilty of abusive behaviour towards teen

He returned to court on Tuesday, November 26 for sentencing, with Sheriff Sean Lynch slamming him for 'continuing to deny the offence' in a report prepared by social workers.

The trial heard evidence from the teenager, who told the court: “He was just against me.

“I stay in routine and I put things in specific places so that I know where they are.

“He would hide them in the most random places.”

Another witness described Murtagh's 'cold and calculated' actions as 'slowly killing' the complainer.

The complainer later set up a laptop to secretly record while he wasn't present, with the camera capturing Murtagh entering the room, picking up items and placing them elsewhere.

The teen said: “I felt great because I wasn’t going crazy.”

(Image: Newsquest) Another witness told the court that the video opened her eyes to ‘lots of unanswered questions’ and described confronting Murtagh after viewing it on January 14 this year.

She said: “Paul looked upset and looked like somebody who had just been caught.

“I wanted to find out why he had done these things.

“All Paul could tell me was, ‘I don’t know. He just got under my skin’.”

In messages sent after the confrontation, Murtagh said: “He just made my blood boil from time to time, but he didn’t deserve that.”

Speaking about the impact on the complainer, the witness described the teenager as presenting like ‘a child who is traumatised’ and that he was ‘becoming increasingly withdrawn’ and ‘disassociating’.

Following his conviction, Murtagh’s sentencing was deferred until Tuesday for the preparation of social work reports.

Defence solicitor Edward Sweeney highlighted that several non-custodial options were indicated in the report.

(Image: Newsquest) Mr Sweeney also told the court he understood referrals have been made to the General Teaching Council for Scotland regarding Murtagh’s offence.

He added: "As a result of this allegation being made, his life has changed radically."

Sheriff Lynch told Murtagh: “It causes me concern that despite overwhelming evidence and the admissions made by you in messages that you sent after January 14, you continue to deny that offence and you blame the complainer while seeing yourself as the victim.

“Having heard the evidence, I am satisfied that this was calculated, cruel conduct on your part.”

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Sheriff Lynch said he was satisfied that the custody threshold was met based on the evidence heard at the trial, but noted that the social work report identified several alternatives to a prison sentence.

He told the court that he would have made a compensation order, but that Murtagh’s financial circumstances did not allow for this.

Murtagh was instead ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and will remain under the supervision of social workers for a period of 12 months.

This was given as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.

Sheriff Lynch also confirmed that Scottish Ministers are to be notified of the conviction under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.