A care worker who brutally assaulted his partner before threatening to cut out her brother’s “intestines” has been spared jail.
George Mhlanga flew into a jealous rage at his Aberdeenshire home, Peterhead Sheriff Court heard.
After beating his girlfriend and leaving her bleeding on the living room floor, he pulled a knife on her brother and said he was going to gut him.
Mhlanga, 41, was back in court yesterday having previously admitted the assault which happened on Friday, November 15.
He also pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards Tendai Madanhi while he was holding a knife.
The court heard Mhlanga, who was described as a support worker for people with mental health issues, could lose his job.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond ordered him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work as part of a three-month community payback order. She said if he did not comply he would be brought back to court and resentenced.
Fiscal David Bernard previously told the court a row broke out when Mhlanga’s partner, Mduduzi Dube, returned from work to the family home in Peterhead’s Lingbank Terrace.
“She arrived at about 9pm and saw Mr Mhlanga in the lounge, where he had been drinking,” he said.
At the time, her brother was in a bedroom at the back of the property, the court heard.
Mr Bernard said: “Mr Mhlanga began to question his partner about a male at her workplace. She said she didn’t want to talk to him about it and this angered Mr Mhlanga and he began to shout at her.”
Miss Dube was heard by a witness, shouting at Mhlanga and telling him not to hit her.
Mr Madanhi heard his sister cry out for help and went into the living room.
“He saw Mr Mhlanga standing over his partner in a fighting stance,” Mr Bernard said. “She was lying on the lounge floor.
“She was clearly distressed and bleeding from her lower lip.”
Mr Madanhi then took Mhlanga to the kitchen to try to calm him down. Mhlanga reached into a drawer and pulled out a kitchen knife.
Mr Bernard said: “He told Mr Madanhi that he was going to harm him by cutting out his intestines.”
Mr Madanhi was cut on the hand when he wrestled the knife away from Mhlanga.
Defence agent Leonard Burkinshaw said the offence was “very much out of character” for Mhlanga, whose address was given as 12 School Road, Aberdeen.
The court heard Mhlanga’s job and relationship were now under threat.