A man who choked and hit his partner and then hid in a cupboard when police were called has been jailed.
Alistair Reid, 56, was subject to bail conditions not to contact the woman when he turned up at her Elgin home in December of 2022.
He also broke his bail conditions in the aftermath of his guilty plea – meaning he appeared via videolink from custody for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted two counts of assault as well as breaching his bail.
At the earlier hearing fiscal depute Susan Love told the court that a special bail condition relating to the woman had been imposed on July 14 2022.
On December 5 Reid had gone to the woman’s home and had been allowed in and allowed to stay.
But when the woman started drinking Reid was “angered” and began to shout and swear at her before assaulting her.
“The accused rolled over on top of her, pinning her to the bed by her arms and placing his hands around her neck and applying pressure,” Ms Love said.
‘Extremely afraid and frightened’
“She was able to breathe but was extremely afraid and frightened shouting at him to get off her.
“He did so, then struck her to the chest with his palm and punched her on the left side of her body causing her pain
“The accused eventually stopped the assault, got off her and apologised for his behaviour.”
After the assault Reid “rolled over and fell asleep”.
He stayed at the property until December 10, when he again became angry because the woman was drinking a bottle of wine.
On this occasion, he “slapped her to both sides of her face causing considerable pain and discomfort”.
Police were called and visited the home, where Reid was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs.
His victim was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital suffering from soft tissue damage to the right side of her jaw along with injuries to her ribs, face and body.
‘Frustration and anger’ led to assaults
At the sentencing hearing defence agent Matthen O’Neill, for Reid, told the court his client struggled with expressing himself correctly, which led to frustration and anger.
He said: “Mr Reid apologises for the behaviour which was exhibited towards the complainer.”
Sheriff Gary Aitken told Reid, of Queens Road, Inverbervie: “You had no business being in the company of the complainer during December 2022 having been made subject to bail conditions to stay away from her – you chose to ignore that.
”You then committed a significant violent assault”
The sheriff said the second assault compounded matters, and noted that Reid also had a previous conviction for domestic assault
He sentenced Reid to 20 months in prison and ordered him not to approach or contact the woman in question for three years.