An Inverness man who terrorised his ex-partner and threatened to burn down the house with her two children inside has been jailed.
Liam McIntosh also turned up at the woman’s Smithton home armed with an axe and a hammer and said he would use one of the weapons to harm any police officer who came near him.
The 33-year-old has now admitted two charges of threatening behaviour and one of assaulting his partner by pushing her on the body and repeatedly lunging towards her.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told Inverness Sheriff Court: “On March 31, he attended at her property highly intoxicated and remained there for six hours.
“He was verbally aggressive towards her, pushed her on the body and into corners and threatened to kill her.
“He refused to leave but did when his father came for him. He then turned up the following day and threatened to burn the house down.”
Found hiding in garden shed
She added that he returned to the property on about 2.40am on September 10 and had an axe in his left hand and a hammer in his right as he stood in the garden shouting.
“The complainer called the police and then opened the kitchen window, saying she would not call the police if he handed over the axe and the hammer and he gave them to her.”
The court heard that police arrived, but McIntosh ran off, only to return twice later, escaping the second time before being arrested the final time, having been found in her garden shed.
A history of violence
Jailing McIntosh, Sheriff David Harvie told him: “Your conduct over a period of months must have been terrifying.
“You were threatening to burn the house down with two children in it.
“Your record also causes me significant concern as there are number of convictions for violence and in domestic settings and here we go again.”
McIntosh, of Birchwood Court, Inshes, was jailed for nine months and two weeks but backdated to September 11 2023 when he was remanded in custody.