A man barged into a house in Thurso and assaulted his sister-in-law, Wick Sheriff Court was told yesterday.
Neil Lansdale’s attack was described as “outrageous” by Sheriff Andrew Berry after finding the accused guilty of an assault and abusive behaviour at an earlier hearing.
The court at Wick was told that the 43-year-old entered the house in Gerry Square, Thurso, occupied by Sharon Sinclair and her partner Mamhud Hussain, on April 20.
Ms Sinclair told the court that Landsdale pulled her head back and “grabbed my windpipe and squeezed it as hard as he could”.
She added: “I felt he was trying to kill me. It was awful. He took my head and darted it off the wall.” The attack was said to have left Ms Sinclair in a state of shock and anxiety and she said she had suffered flashbacks since.
The court heard that Mr Hussain intervened and there was a scuffle in the hallway where Landsdale spat on him and made a racist remark before punching a hole in the wall next to where he was standing.
Lansdale, of 3 Gerry Square in Thurso, pleaded not guilty.
He conceded in evidence that he had grabbed Ms Sinclair and shook her but denied making a racist comment.
He was found guilty yesterday by Sheriff Berry who saw a background report, yesterday.
Solicitor Patrick O’ Dea said that Lansdale regretted the incident and wanted to move on. He hoped at some point in the future to rebuild bridges with Ms Sinclair
Sheriff Berry, who took account of the fact that Lansdale had health issues to address in his life, commented that imposing unpaid work would have been impractical and deferred sentence for a year to give him the opportunity to demonstrate he could behave.