Disgruntled ex employee bombarded former colleagues with abusive emails

A disgruntled ex employee bombarded former colleagues with abusive emails for nearly two months.

Such was the volume of John Cutt’s campaign of annoyance, his old employer, a firm with an office in Aberdeen, had to assign someone the task of filtering out his emails.

In a string of messages, the 38-year-old compared staff to “ringleaders of a corporate rape gang” and bragged: “An entire company scared of me. #YeahBaby.”

Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the three named complainers in the case are all employed at the company, and that Cutt had resigned from the firm in October 2019.

He said: “After his resignation, the accused became disgruntled with various employees, including the three complainers.”

The court heard that in June this year Cutt started to “persistently contact members of staff, to their annoyance, by email”.

Mr Middleton said: “These emails are not threatening but are persistent, disruptive and at times abusive.”

Between June 7 and July 29, Cutt, using various different email addresses, sent a total of 71 emails to three members of staff.

One email stated: “Both of you will be publicly exposed as ringleaders of a corporate rape gang that habitually breaks the equality act if your team in Aberdeen continues to take the ****.”

Another said: “I no longer grudge you the job. Kneeling before scum is no way to live.”

In another email to one of the staff members, Cutt said: “What do I need to do to get you out for a pint? Do you require a **** pic? Bit of a pain, I’ll need to do one of those panorama shots.”

‘A great deal of stress and anxiety’

Cutt also boasted in another email: “An entire company scared of me. #YeahBaby.”

Another email read: “Much like your colleagues, you have the look of lowlifes. They would rob, rape, betray and abuse just to feel important.

“How sad that we should become enemies, but that is what we are.”

Mr Middleton said: “The volume of emails was so vast a member of staff from the locus had been tasked to filter them, preventing them reaching employees.”

He said the emails caused staff “a great deal of stress and anxiety” and police were contacted.

Cutt, of Stafford Street, Aberdeen, pled guilty to persistently sending emails for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.

Defence agent Kevin Longino said his client, along with other former employees of the company, are looking to start their own business.

‘I receive 71 emails from the fiscal’s office in a week’

Mr Longino explained Cutt, who had no previous convictions, had been employed by the company for a number of years before it was bought over “with a view to getting rid of all of the staff that were there”.

The solicitor said Cutt’s position is staff were “effectively forced to resign” due to “onerous” processes he compared to bullying.

However he accepted Cutt’s response was “foolish” and that not getting a reply to his first emails had “pushed his buttons”.

Mr Longino went on: We’re dealing with about 71 emails over the course of two months.

“I receive 71 emails from the fiscal’s office in a week.”

Sheriff William Summers ordered Cutt to pay a fine of £420.