Drug debt enforcers who terrorised mother and child are jailed

Two men who terrorised an innocent mother and child in pursuit of a £50,000 drug debt have been jailed.

Derek Denholm, 44, and Marc Kerr, 28, flew to Shetland to hunt a man who owed money for drugs – but instead threatened his family at their home in Lerwick.

Although Denholm, of Gartleahill, Airdrie, had tried to argue he came to take a job at the “windfarm” – Sheriff Ian Cruickshank was not convinced.

Sentencing the men yesterday (Thursday), he said: “There’s absolutely no hesitation in my mind that both of you came to Shetland for one purpose and that was to enforce a drug debt.”

Sheriff Cruickshank said he heard evidence that “substantial sums” had been demanded and threats were made.

He praised the two “brave witnesses” – a 53-year-old nurse and her 15-year-old son – for giving evidence against the two criminals.

The sheriff added: “I want to make it clear that any drug debt enforcers who come to Shetland should be warned that I will have no hesitation in imposing the maximum sentence.”

The court heard how the two men arrived at the family’s home in Lewick at around 8pm on Monday, 29th August.

The 15-year-old son, giving evidence via video link, said he heard loud banging at the door and two men asking for his older brother – who was not at the address.

He said the men were threatening and aggressive and that he felt scared and did not know what to do.

His mother, taking the stand next, said she had been in her pyjamas getting ready for an early night when she heard “noisy banging” at the door.

After opening the door to see what the men wanted she said they demanded to speak to her son – who had not been at the home for several weeks.

They persisted, ordering that she call him on her phone, which she refused.

She said they told her that her son owed £40,000-£50,000.

After eventually leaving, she saw the men scrabbling on the floor before hurling a rock through her glass front door.

She said she was “angry, upset and very worried”

“I didn’t know if them smashing the door was just to scare me or to come in and do me harm,” she said.

Defence agent Roberto Manini suggested to the witnesses his client, Denholm, had not entered the house and had remained half way down the path to the house.

Both witnesses rejected such suggestions.

While the mother described Kerr as a “little shit” who was shouting in her face, she said Denholm was the “scarier of the two” and questioned why he had been positioned at the front door to block her exit.

When Denholm took the witness stand, he claimed he had come to Shetland to work on the windfarm after being told about the job by Kerr.

He claimed they had been expecting to meet the older son at the address and for him to set them up with the job.

Denholm claimed they had never mentioned money and the mother “got her back up” when asked about her son.

He said she shoved Kerr out of the door and slammed it on his face.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie put it to Denholm that he had instead come to “terrorise a woman and child to collect a debt”.

He questioned whether Denholm was capable of “stringing one sentence together that’s true” adding that what he told the court was a “pack of lies”.

Sheriff Cruickshank said he found the Crown witnesses reliable and delivered a guilty verdict for Denholm.

Kerr, of Belhaven Park, Muirhead, had already pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour, as well as obstructing police and behaving aggressively towards officers while being taken back to Lerwick police station.

Sheriff Cruickshank jailed Kerr for 11 months.

He sentenced Denholm to serve nine months after completing the 106 days of an existing sentence.