AN AYRSHIRE woman who starred in a controversial BBC documentary has been jailed after sexually assaulting a man and exposing her breasts to children in Cumnock.
Scheme star Dayna McLaughlan was also put on the sex offenders register for seven years after she admitted charges of sexual assault and threatening or abusive behaviour.
The 32-year-old was told there is no alternative for her than custody after being assessed as unfit for a strict regime of drug treatment and testing, when she returned to Ayr Sheriff Court for sentencing.
We previously reported how McLaughlan, who appeared in the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Scheme 14 years ago, had barged into a man’s home in the town’s Wylie Crescent on October 4, 2023, demanding a cigarette.
She then pushed the man on to a bed, jumped on top of him and tried to kiss him.
The incident happened just a few weeks after McLaughlan removed her jacket outside her own home in the same street, exposing her breasts and gesticulating in an aggressive manner outside a separate address.
She also breached bail orders imposed at Ayr Sheriff Court.
Upon pleading guilty in August, McLaughlan was told by Sheriff Desmond Leslie that "you will end up killing yourself if it continues".
At the time Sheriff Leslie told McLaughlan he was going to "trust you to help yourself", rather than sending her straight to jail, by sending her for assessment for a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO).
But When she returned to the same court for sentencing on Thursday, September 5, defence solicitor Rebecca Horton said: "Sheriff [Desmond] Leslie called for a full DTTO assessment.
"Unfortunately she was assessed as unsuitable, which is somewhat regretful.
"Since she was 11 years of age, Ms McLaughlan has had longstanding addiction issues. It is very much a key feature of all offences.
"She is 33 years of age and is currently residing in Wylie Crescent, Cumnock.
"At the time of offending, she was consuming a cocktail of illicit substances: heroin, cannabis, valium, crack cocaine, painkillers and sleeping tablets.
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"She appears with her SHINE worker [an East Ayrshire women's mentoring service], who certainly appears to be a positive influence on the lady and who attended the DTTO assesments.
"There is a lengthy record before the court and your Lordship would see she is no stranger to custody.
"Custody may perhaps address her drug misuse. She has expressed a desire to, and is aware she must, do something.
"As Sherriff Leslie said, she is going to find herself dead consuming quantities of illicit substances.
"I would ask my lady to step back from custody and impose a community payback order with supervision requirements.
Sheriff Morag Fraser said: "A period of custody may only help in the short term. In the circumstances I see no alternative other than a custodial sentence."
McLaughlan was jailed for a total of 82 days and will be subject to the sex offenders register police notification requirements for seven years.
Procurator fiscal depute Alasdair Millar had previously told Ayr Sheriff Court: “The witness was a neighbour, who was in the kitchen of her property when she was told by her 13-year-old daughter that Dayna McLaughlan was outside in the street.
“The witness looked outside and saw the accused remove her jacket, thereafter exposing her naked breasts. It was two o’clock in the afternoon.
“The accused began shouting for her pet cat. She stayed outside for a few minutes then went back into the property.
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"Five minutes later, the witness had moved to the living room, and observed the accused at the window in her own home, giving the witness the middle finger.
“The witness went to her own front door and shouted to the accused, asking what she was doing. The accused began shouting and screaming at the witness.
“The accused shouted ‘I don’t know what’s f***ing in you’ and called her a “fat f***ing w***e’. It was noted the accused was in a state of intoxication.
“In relation to charge one, the Crown does not intend to suggest there was a significant sexual element to that charge.
Describing the sex assault at a separate address on the street, he said “At 8.45pm the witness and a friend were in the home address of the witness.
“At that time the accused attended the door asking for a cigarette. The accused was known to the witness. She was let in, but it was indicated she was to remain at the door.
“He made his way to the rear bedroom and she followed him in. She took off her coat at the bottom of the bed. The accused was also sitting on the bed.
“The accused stood up, made her way round, stood in front of the witness and pushed him onto the bed. She pushed him down on his back and the accused jumped on top of him attempting to kiss him.
“The witness did not want that, and attempted to get the accused away.
“He left the bedroom, entering the toilet in an attempt to distance himself from the accused.”
McLaughlan was the subject of a bail order at the time of the offence.
Not guilty pleas to several other charges were accepted after a deal was struck with prosecutors ahead of a trial.
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