A domestic abuser who proposed to his partner while still living with his wife in Wick has been warned he could face jail over the abuse and assault of one of the women.
George Harper asked his new girlfriend to marry him just two weeks after they first met – and despite him still sharing a home with his spouse.
But while splitting his time between the two women, Harper abused and assaulted his supposed fiancee in Inverness – leaving her in need of hospital treatment.
Harper, 42, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and assault relating to incidents in April and May of 2o22.
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told the court that Harper met his victim in June 2021.
Abuser split time ‘between two women’
She said: “He proposed within two weeks, despite having a wife with whom he still lived in Wick – he spent his time between the two women.”
The court heard that on April 29 2022 Harper came to Inverness to spend time with the complainer and a neighbour saw him shouting and swearing and making threats in the garden.
Then on April 30 the pair were socialising with others at the woman’s flat when Harper “took exception to what he saw as a flirtation between the complainer and another male who was present.”
“He struck her on the head causing her to, as she put it, ‘fly across the room’ and fall to the ground,” Mrs Gair told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald.
In the early hours of May 1 a downstairs neighbour was woken by the sound of furniture being thrown about with the couple “shouting and screaming”.
The witness said the behaviour had been escalating and said she heard the woman “screaming for help”.
A history of violence
During this incident, Harper said he didn’t love the woman and “told her to kill herself”.
The woman waited for Harper to be sleeping before seeking help from the neighbour. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Harper’s solicitor Graham Mann conceded that his client had previous convictions for “offences of violence” but told the court that “there was no history with this particular complainer of anything untoward”.
He said: “They had a relationship for many months before this.”
Sheriff MacDonald deferred sentencing of Harper, of Bremners Walk, Wick, for reports but warned him: “That doesn’t mean I not going to send you to jail for this Mr Harper – because I might very well do that.”
The case will call again next month.
