A drunk man assaulted a woman twice on the same day after attending an Inverness music festival.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard Archibald MacFarlane’s first attack took place near the River Ness on June 1.
The 43-year-old admitted punching his victim on the head, causing her to fall to the ground, after an argument as they walked away from The Gathering.
Fiscal depute David Morton said the row continued at an address in the city.
He told the court: “They argued again and he took her by the throat in the kitchen, punched her on the face and bled her lip. She phoned his brother to remove him.
“He then got in touch with her while he was on bail.”
MacFarlane, whose address was given as Woodend, Spean Bridge, also admitted the second attack and sentence had been deferred for a background report.
Solicitor advocate Mike Chapman said his client had been in the armed forces and had sought counselling since the offences.
He added: “The messages he sent were non-threatening and of regret. He has no recollection of the events as he had been drinking. There can be no excuse for behaviour of this sort.”
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood placed MacFarlane under two years of social work supervision, ordered him to take part in an abusers programme and imposed a non-harassment order also for two years as an alternative to custody.