A woman-beating ex-army soldier living in Aberdeen has reached his SIXTH conviction for a domestically aggravated offence.
Neil Stephen snatched his girlfriend’s phone from her hand as she tried to call police on him during a Perthshire caravan trip in November 2021.
The family holiday to Tummel Valley, Pitlochry, descended into an “extremely trivial” argument ending with his “deplorable” drunken outburst.
It happened only two months before the 44-year-old then broke a court order by creeping into the same victim’s home to “apologise”, before punching her face twice.
She was forced to flee her Inverbervie home in the middle of the night, running down her street screaming for help from neighbours on New Year’s Day 2022.
Stephen was ordered to take part in a rehabilitation programme for domestic abusers when he pled guilty to the January 2022 offence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
On Wednesday, the thuggish former squaddie, who claims to have toured Afghanistan, returned to the dock at Perth Sheriff Court to be sentenced for the caravan incident.
Stephen admitted to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm at Tummel Valley Holiday Park on November 3 2021.
However, prosecutors accepted his not guilty plea to an allegation that he assaulted his then-partner at the Perthshire resort.
Female holiday-maker concerned by caravan disturbance
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson said the couple had been in a relationship for several years.
“They had separated but were back together at the time of the incident. By about 3pm on the day of the offence, the accused was at the holiday park drinking heavily.
“The family returned to their lodgings at about 10.30pm, after enjoying some on-site entertainment,” Ms Hodgson said.
The prosecutor explained: “The complainer said the couple then began arguing over a trivial matter. The accused shouted angrily towards her.
“She asked him to stop and threatened to call police. At this point, the accused snatched the complainer’s mobile phone and refused to hand it back.
“Another holiday-maker was in a caravan just metres away when she heard a male voice shouting angrily.
“The noise of the disturbance concerned her and she went to the accused’s caravan. He answered the door as he continued to shout at the complainer.”
Stephen yelled derogatory comments, calling his partner a “fat s***,” before telling her he was leaving.
The partner called police and Stephen was arrested later that night.
Ms Hodgson said the complainer was “fearful” of Stephen and wanted a non-harassment order in place for “as long as possible”.
The court heard that the couple finally separated following the incident.
‘Arguing about something trivial and things escalated’
Defence solicitor Linda Clark, representing Stephen, said: “They had been arguing about something extremely trivial and things just escalated.
“This seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
The lawyer told the court that her serial offender client was now rarely in the UK and worked overseas in locations including Saudi Arabia and New Guinea.
Sheriff Alison McKay told Stephen: “This was a lady who was trying to call police and you wouldn’t let her. That is a serious matter.”
She added: “Your behaviour was deplorable and you have domestic abuse convictions that I have to take into account.”
Stephen, of Kincorth Crescent, Aberdeen, was fined £1,750 and ordered to comply with a two-year non-harassment order.
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