An Inverness man has been found guilty of seizing his boyfriend by the throat during an argument after a night out.
Darryl Patterson, 23, was ordered to stay out of trouble for six months by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood, sitting at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Patterson, who works as a steward on the Caledonian Sleeper train, denied assaulting Ickey McDonald at Patterson’s home, 27 Firthview Road, on February 22 this year.
But he was found guilty following a trial.
During his evidence yesterday Mr McDonald, 22, said the pair had been at Johnny Foxes bar and nightclub for five hours before leaving at 3am to go back to Patterson’s house.
Mr McDonald told the court that they had picked up food from McDonald’s restaurant before going to the house to watch television.
However when Mr McDonald told his then partner he wanted to leave and return to his own home, he became violent.
Mr McDonald said: “He initially seemed fine with that and he had his arm towards the living room door and as I walked to the door he pinned the door shut and slammed me up against it.
“He had one hand around my throat and with his other hand he was trying to hit my face and he was shouting and swearing at me. I was trying to push him back and push his arm off my throat but it was only when his mother and brother came into the room that I was able to get free. I left the house after that.
“I was a bit shaken up because I had never seen Darryl react in that way before.”
When giving his own evidence in court, Patterson denied this and claimed he had asked Mr McDonald to leave following an argument.
He denied grabbing Mr McDonald’s throat, claiming he had only raised his arms in response.
He added he then pushed Mr McDonald out of the door to get him to leave.
Patterson’s mother also gave evidence yesterday and said that when she walked into the room she saw Mr McDonald raising his arms after being awakened by a noise and a scuffle.
But in her submission, fiscal depute Michelle Molley said that evidence from both the mother and son lacked credibility after highlighting discrepancies with their statements given to police at the time.