A middle-aged man and his teenage wife were today taking refuge in York after being hounded out of their Glasgow home by an angry mob.

LEAVING TOWN: James McCartney and his wife, Elaine, get on board their train from Glasgow station on their way to York, where they are hoping they will be able to start a new life

Locals, disgusted that James McCartney, 46, had married Elaine, 17, his daughter's best friend, started a month-long campaign of terror against the couple. Insults were shouted at them in the street, graffiti was daubed on their home and death threats were made against James.

So the newlyweds, who started dating only weeks after Elaine's 16th birthday and who married three weeks ago, threw a few possessions into suitcases and fled to York, which neither had visited before.

James said they had been overwhelmed by the generosity and friendliness of people in the city and were looking forward to making a fresh start and starting a family.

They had been given emergency accommodation by City of York Council, with which they were happy.

But James said he had only £4 in his pocket, and he was desperate for a crisis loan from the Department of Social Security to help them out.

The former taxi driver said they had decided to come to York because his mother had visited it many years ago and spoken of how beautiful it was, and her words had stuck in his mind.

"I fell in love with the city as soon as we stepped off the train, and we would like to settle down here now."

He said York was a welcome haven from the constant abuse heaped on him and his young bride by locals disgusted by their love affair.

He said they had been subjected to insults in the street, spat at and had graffiti daubed on their home.

He had received death threats, and Elaine had been attacked in the street and disowned by her own parents. Cries of "pervert" and "paedophile" were still ringing in their ears when they reached the sanctuary of York.

"We've had to leave a beautiful flat in our home country and our families behind," he said. "Elaine cries herself to sleep at night because of what this scum, these lowlifes, have done to us."

"It's a strange place to us and we have no family in the area but we feel we will be happy here," he said.

"We need to be in peace to live our own lives."

A Benefits Agency spokesman could not comment on individual cases, but said that crisis loans were available in some cases to meet expenses in an emergency. Each application was considered individually on its own merits.

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