A SHERIFF has released a domestic abuser from jail after his girlfriend pleaded for him to be allowed home for their baby’s first Christmas.
Yesterday’s move was criticised by a women’s aid charity – because the victim had been asked in open court whether her attacker should be granted bail.
Mark Cushnie appeared from custody at Dingwall Sheriff Court and admitted punching and kicking Nikitta Kirkham on one occasion and brandishing a knife at her on another.
Defence solicitor Iain Innes asked Sheriff Andrew Miller to allow the 21-year-old forklift operator and Chinese-takeaway delivery driver out on bail. “He is keen to spend his first Christmas with his five-month-old daughter,” he told the court. Mr Innes added that Miss Kirkham was in court and did not want her boyfriend to spend the festive season in jail.
The sheriff said: “I am taking the unusual step of asking Miss Kirkham if she wants to say anything.”
At first she replied: “No.” But then she said: “I’d like him to come out and make a fresh start because I don’t want him to miss his daughter’s first Christmas.
“If he doesn’t come out and try again, how do we know if it’s going to work? It’s help we need and we’re going to get help.”
Sheriff Miller released Cushnie on bail after telling him: “You’ve pled guilty to a sequence of serious offences. In particular, the assaults on your partner and mother of your child are just disgraceful.”
He imposed a condition on Cushnie’s bail preventing him from drinking alcohol after hearing that the offences had been committed while he was drunk.
Cushnie, of 4 Ord Terrace, Strathpeffer, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by entering Miss Kirkham’s home at 23 Ulladale Crescent, Strathpeffer, uninvited, entering her bedroom, brandishing a knife at her and refusing to leave when she asked him to do so on August 21.
He also admitted assaulting Miss Kirkham at her home on November 2 by forcing his hand into her mouth and repeatedly punching her on the head and body, leaving her injured.
He admitted breaking a bail condition on December 4 that prevented him entering Strathpeffer and contacting Miss Kirkham by visiting her home and speaking to her. This led to him appearing from custody yesterday.
Cushnie’s solicitor told the court the pair had “a volatile relationship” and both realised they needed relationship and anger-management counselling and were seeking help.
He added that Cushnie would be staying with his mother and would visit Miss Kirkham and the child over Christmas, but would not be staying there.
Heather Williams, manager of Ross-shire Women’s Aid, said last night she could not comment on a specific case.
But she added: “We know from experience that women have said they should not be questioned by the police when their partner is present and that practice should carry on throughout the justice system. If women are being asked their opinion, it should be done in a forum where they feel safe to say what they really believe.”
Ms Williams said fear was a dominant factor in many cases of domestic abuse. “Women in this situation live in fear of their partner and this fear can make it difficult for them to seek help,” she said.
“The courts are meant to be acting in the public interest. They are meant to protect people and to help them and I am not convinced they have done that on this occasion.”
Comment, Page 30