Scots Dragons' Den star dodges jail over hammer attack on ex-girlfriend's car

Scottish Sun

30-04-2025

He told cops he had gone to get money that he said he was owed
'STAY AWAY FROM HER'
'STAY AWAY FROM HER' Scots Dragons' Den star dodges jail over hammer attack on ex-girlfriend's car
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A SCOTS Dragons' Den star was spared jail after turning up in a balaclava outside his ex-girlfriend's home and smashing her car windscreen with a hammer.
Brian Smillie, 47, was warned by a sheriff: 'Stay away from her.'
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Smillie pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner
Credit: Central Scotland News Agency
Smillie – who was in a 2018 episode of Dragon's Den – had been in a relationship with his victim, Kelly Johnstone, 46, for four years, a court heard.
The offence was committed nearly five years after it ended.
Stirling Sheriff Court was told that Smillie and Miss Johnstone had not been in contact for some time, until at 5.15am on December 3, 2024, a 'loud bang' was heard outside her home in Cooperage Quay, Stirling.
Smillie was seen wearing 'a big jacket and a balaclava' standing with a hammer next to Miss Johnstone's VW Passat Estate, which had a broken windscreen.
Prosecutor Ann Orr said: 'Miss Johnstone was awakened by the sound of banging and looked out of her window and saw the accused outside.'
Mrs Orr said Smillie began to walk away and Miss Johnstone and a relative who was in the house with her ran after him.
Smillie asked them, 'Do you know who I am?'
Mrs Orr said: 'Miss Johnstone knew that it was him.'
Smillie said to Miss Johnstone: 'Do you know what you've done to me?'
He then walked off, and police were called.
Shock moment van ploughs into woman's home before driver leaps out and smashes windows with hammer
He was detained and told officers he had gone to Miss Johnstone's to get money that he said that he was owed.
Mrs Orr, the depute fiscal, said that she did not have a value for the damaged windscreen that she could tell the court.
The fact that Smillie had been wearing a balaclava at the time was described at an earlier court hearing as 'sinister'.
Smillie, of Stirling, appeared for sentence today after pleading guilty in March to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner. He had originally faced a charge of stalking, but the Crown accepted his plea to the lesser crime.
Solicitor Virgil Crawford, defending, said: 'It's a slightly unusual offence in various ways, not least because of the passage of time between the end of the relationship and this behaviour.'
Mr Crawford said it was clear from a background report on Smillie that he'd had 'various difficulties in his life'.
He said: 'He'd had some ups, some downs, and it is quite clear that various things were playing on his mind, effectively bringing back old memories, which then seemed to cause him to act in what might be referred to as an irrational manner on this occasion.'
Sheriff Mark O'Hanlon sentenced Smillie to 135 hours unpaid work, ordered him to attend a domestic abuse harm-reduction programme for two years, and imposed a non-harassment order banning him from approaching or contacting Miss Johnstone for three years.
He told Smillie his behaviour had been 'clearly distressing' to Miss Johnstone.
He said: 'This is a serious matter.
'Five years after the relationship ended you turned up at her address wearing a balaclava hat and more or less carrying a weapon.
'Stay away from her.'
Smillie, who showed no emotion as sentence was passed, left the court with supporters understood to be members of his family.
Smillie was the star of an intense 2018 episode of Dragons Den, when he was seeking investment for Edinburgh-based Beezer, a platform that allows anyone to create, distribute, manage and market their own app without any technical skills.
He walked away with an offer from Dragon Peter Jones who called the company "a potential unicorn" and agreed to give £125,000 for a 15 per cent stake.
In the end Smillie decided a better deal could be found elsewhere and later said he sold his two houses and his Banksy art collection to 'put everything' into Beezer.
In 2022 it was announced that he was taking on the role of head of HoloAd at York-based influencer brand platform, 2mee.