A man has admitted assaulting his ex wife at their child’s birthday party in the north-east.
Aleksandrs Seins had been drinking throughout the day at the party before turning violent in the evening at an address in Peterhead.
The 44-year-old grabbed his ex wife by the throat as she sat in the garden and compressed until she felt faint but managed to shout and break free.
Fiscal depute Kelly Mitchell told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the pair had previously been in a relationship for eight years and married in 2015, but were now divorced.
Ms Mitchell told the court Seins ex was holding a birthday party for one of their children and a number of family members were attending.
She said: “The accused arrived at around 2pm. Through the day he consumed a few beers and half a bottle of whisky.
“Around 11pm the complainer was sitting on her own in the front garden, the accused came out of the house and the two began to argue.
“While the complainer was still sitting down the accused grabbed her round the neck with both hands and applied some pressure.
“The complainer felt faint but was able to shout and push the accused away from her.
“This was seen by one of the children who was upstairs in the house.
“The complainer ran back into the house and locked the door.
“She contacted police and the accused shouted ‘you’re going to regret this’.
“Police attended and the accused was found within the front garden and taken into police custody.”
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Seins pled guilty to a domestically aggravated charge of assault by seizing hold of her neck and compressing.
Defence solicitor Stuart Beveridge said it was the first time his client had been violent towards his ex.
He added: “He was extremely drunk. He regrets his behaviour.
“It appears his ex wife had said something and he lost his temper and behaved in the way described.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan said: “It’s a serious matter to seize hold of someone’s neck and compress it, and the complainer felt faint.”
Mr Beveridge replied: “I understand this was a very short-lived incident.”
Sheriff Buchanan, addressing Seins, of no fixed abode, directly, said: “I’m going to continue this case in order to obtain a social work report. I take the view that this is a serious matter because of the nature of the assault.
“An assault of this kind can have very unpleasant consequences.”
The sheriff remanded Seins in custody pending preparation of the report ordered and deferred sentence until mid July.
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