A violent and unpredictable boyfriend who brutally abused his girlfriend and even had her car clamped has been jailed.
Mohammed Iqbal, 34, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted carrying out a series of terrifying physical and verbal assaults on his former partner for more than a year.
Iqbal – who was described by his solicitor as the “black sheep of his family” – could not accept the end of their relationship and embarked on a campaign of violence, intimidation and threats.
On one occasion, the young woman found her car had been clamped in the middle of the night and a hand-written note by Iqbal was placed under the windscreen.
On another, Iqbal choked the woman and dragged her across the floor by her hair.
Iqbal’s lawyer said his client’s “reprehensible behaviour” was down to him abusing cocaine and alcohol.
Sheriff Gareth Jones highlighted Iqbal’s previous offences against women before jailing him for two years.
Numerous assaults on partner
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told the court that on several occasions and without warning between November 2022 and June 2023, Iqbal grabbed his girlfriend by the hair and dragged her across the floor at an address in Balnagask, Aberdeen.
On one of these occasions, he placed his hand around the woman’s throat and pinned her to the wall for around 20 seconds before releasing his grip.
At around 8pm on October 9 last year, the woman finished her shift at work and made plans to go to Iqbal’s house.
However, when she got no reply from him she decided to visit a friend instead.
Mr Middleton said: “Whilst at her friend’s property, the complainer noticed that her friend was continuously receiving calls from the accused.
“On one occasion the complainer’s friend answered and the accused was repeatedly asking if he was with the complainer.
“The complainer thought this was strange so called the accused herself.
“During the call the accused continually shouted down the phone in an aggressive manner saying ‘you were supposed to come and see me’, ‘why are you patching me for them’, and ‘f*** you don’t bother coming here’.”
The woman left her friend’s home out of embarrassment and almost as soon she stepped outside Iqbal pulled up in his car and demanded she get in.
Once in the car Iqbal became immediately aggressive and called her “a little slag” and threw a plastic bottle of water at her face, striking her above the eye.
On a subsequent phone call to the woman’s friend, she heard Iqbal call her “a little f****** b****”.
She decided to end the relationship following this incident.
Iqbal slapped woman across the face
In the days that followed, Iqbal’s behaviour became increasingly erratic with the woman receiving a text message from him on October 11 stating he was outside her home.
The woman went outside to avoid a scene and got into his car.
An argument ensued, with Iqbal grabbing the woman by the hair and slapping her to the face several times.
As she begged him to stop, Iqbal told her to “shut the f*** up”, so she messaged her mum, telling her the address and asking her to “call the police”.
The police arrived and arrested Iqbal, but he was subsequently released without charge.
However, the following day, the woman received a number of texts and phone calls from Iqbal where he made a series of threats.
Due to being “extremely upset and distressed” the woman told her sister, who contacted the police.
As they waited for the police to arrive, Iqbal called the woman and demanded that she come to his house.
When she refused, he stated: “No, you need to,” and “things will end up worse for you, trust me”.
On November 10, the woman looked out of her window at around midnight to see something yellow attached to her car tyre.
As she went outside, she found a yellow and red tyre clamp attached to the vehicle and an Aberdeen City Council penalty charge notice under the windscreen wiper.
Removing the notice, she saw it had been written over in red pen with a message stating: “You know who to call to get the clamp removed.”
She recognised the handwriting as Iqbal’s.
In the dock, Iqbal pleaded guilty to one charge of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive to his partner.
Accused was abusing drugs and alcohol
Defence solicitor Shane Campbell told the court that Iqbal was aware his behaviour was “reprehensible towards this young lady”.
He said: “Mr Iqbal appreciated the seriousness of the situation he has placed himself in and that the court would have every right in imposing a custodial sentence.
“He is essentially the black sheep of his family and he has effectively brought shame on them through his record of drug use in the past.
“During the bulk of these instances he would have been abusing alcohol and cocaine.”
Sheriff Gareth Jones told Iqbal that he had a number of previous convictions, including some for similar assaults on women.
He also pointed out to Iqbal that the beginning of these offences coincided with the end of another similar offence.
“Against this background, I’m satisfied that only a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case,” the sheriff said.
Sheriff Jones sentenced Iqbal, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, to two years in prison, backdated to January 24 this year.
The sheriff also put a non-harassment order in place, meaning Iqbal cannot approach his former partner for five years.
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