A man who subjected his wife to tirades of threatening or abusive behaviour narrowly avoided prison at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday.
William Ratter, 49, formerly of North Biggins, Foula, was ordered to keep away from the island for 18 months during which time he is to make no contact whatsoever with his victim, other than by court approved application.
He was also given an 18 month community payback order with supervision and ordered to complete 300 hours unpaid work within six months.
At a hearing one month ago Ratter admitted three charges of threatening and abusive behaviour including telling his wife to kill herself.
She managed to record some of the abuse which was also overheard by their children, causing them upset.
Tommy Allan, defending, said that Ratter had already “paid a huge price” and had been punished by the break up of his marriage and losing the life that he had worked hard to build up in Foula.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank considered a social work report before sentencing that pointed to “doubts about Ratter’s attitude”.
He said that he had been “persuaded by a margin” that the matter could be dealt with by a non-custodial sentence. As well as the non-harassment order, he fined Ratter £180 for breach of bail.