A man dragged his partner by her hair and pinned her to a wall by her neck in a Christmas Eve row over drugs.
William Main, 44, had been taking a taxi home with his partner after sourcing drugs, when the woman legged it with both the cash for the fare and also the drugs.
Enraged, Main pursued her and assaulted her in a communal stairwell, grabbing her by the neck and pinning her to a wall before a witness intervened.
The pair then left and continued to row, with Main being seen dragging the woman towards a doorway by her hair before police arrived and traced him shouting through a letterbox to her.
Fiscal depute Kiril Bonavino told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened around 8.30pm on December 24 when Main and the complainer had an argument on Park Road.
Main’s partner “ran away” from him but he followed her.
Cops found Main shouting through letterbox
She was seen by another witness running upstairs in the communal stairwell of a property on Urquhart Road with Main, who “seemed angry”, close behind and shouting “come back here”.
Main pushed the woman to the back, causing her to stumble.
He then “took her by the neck and pinned her against a wall and slapped her face multiple times”.
A witness then warned Main that she would call the police if he didn’t let go, which she did and the pair left.
While on the phone to police, the couple could be heard shouting in a rear garden area and a witness saw Main “drag her by the hair” towards a doorway.
Police arrived and traced Main shouting through a letterbox to the woman.
Main pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury with a domestic aggravation.
Defence agent John Hardie said the couple had been together for 14 years with no history of domestic incidents.
Main spent Christmas in custody
He explained the couple both had issues with alcohol and drug misuse and had been returning home with drugs they had purchased.
Mr Hardie said: “The complainer had both the cash to pay for the taxi and the drugs they had sourced.
“She left the taxi and essentially ran away from Mr Main with the money and drugs with the intention of consuming them herself.
“Needless to say, Mr Main wanted both of these things.”
He accepted the incident was “serious” but explained the injury had been “reddening to the face”.
The solicitor added: “It’s not an unprovoked matter. She accepts that she was essentially stealing property from him and this was his reaction to that.”
He said Main had spent Christmas in custody having been remanded since the incident.
Sheriff Karen Kirk jailed Main, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, for eight months.
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