A man who violently assaulted his partner during a weekend away in Aberdeen after she refused to take part in a card game has been ordered to take part in a domestic abuse programme.
Stuart Goodwin appeared in the dock from custody at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month and admitted turning on his female partner when she didn’t want to play a drinking game.
The court heard that the 58-year-old punched and slapped the woman across the face a number of times during the altercation at the Station Hotel in Aberdeen.
When police arrived to arrest Goodwin he told officers: “Aye, I slapped her.”
Loser of game would stop drinking
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann said on January 15 this year Goodwin and his partner travelled from Glenrothes to Aberdeen for a weekend away.
At around 2.30am, Goodwin suggested that the couple play a card game where the winner would drink and the loser would be no longer allowed to drink.
His partner disagreed with the idea of the game and told Goodwin she didn’t want to play.
However, the court heard he immediately became angry and punched the woman on the head with a closed fist.
As the woman got up and sat on the bed, she told Goodwin he was “out of order”.
He then got up and slapped her “with force” across the side of the face with an open hand, which caused her to fall off the bed onto the floor.
“She got up but the accused followed her and slapped her again,” Mr McMann said.
“The complainer got up from the floor once more and called the police, telling them she was scared of the accused’s actions. ”
Once the woman got off the phone, Goodwin slapped her once more before going to sleep.
‘I wish I hadn’t done it’
Mr McMann told the court that the woman was left with significant bruising around her right eye following the assault.
When police arrested Goodwin at the Guild Street hotel, he told them: “Aye, I slapped her to the face. I will admit that.”
And in reply to caution and charge, he said: “I wish I hadn’t done it. I wish I hadn’t done it.”
Goodwin pleaded guilty to one charge of assault by punching and slapping his partner to her injury.
Defence agent Mike Monro told the court that the female complainer in the case was “not supportive” of a non-harassment order.
He also suggested that, despite a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment being carried out on his client, a second report “may benefit” the court.
However, Sheriff Morag McLaughlin stated that she didn’t believe this was necessary and moved to sentence Goodwin.
Sheriff McLaughlin made Goodwin, of Bon Accord Square, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
She also ordered him to take part in a two-year domestic abuse programme.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.