An Aberdeen businessman who inflicted an “appalling catalogue” of domestic abuse on two women has narrowly avoided going to prison.
Ryan Calvert was convicted following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of 11 charges of violent and degrading acts he carried out upon two former partners over a nine-year period.
The court heard how Calvert, then a DJ at the Justice Mill pub on Union Street, repeatedly assaulted the women – one of whom he strangled until she passed out.
Calvert, 36, also compared the same woman to a “piece of s***” before spitting in her face.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told Calvert – who runs welding firm CalFab and the campervan conversion business Vanbitious – that his crimes amounted to an “appalling catalogue of abuse spanning a wide range of abusive conduct”.
He said that evidence during the trial showed that Calvert’s abusive behaviour had “escalated” as he moved from one relationship to another.
Victim impact statements from both Calvert’s victims “eloquently and powerfully expressed the corrosive and lasting impact” his abusive actions had had on each woman’s “peace of mind, their ability to trust others and to see themselves in a positive light”, the sheriff said.
‘He has not dealt with conflict well in relationships’
Defence solicitor Neil Shand told the court that his client had “never been sentenced to a period of custody” and that he was “requesting a non-custodial option”.
He added that he understood that Calvert was “convicted of very serious offences” and that a period of imprisonment is “very much an option for the court”.
“Mr Calvert maintains his innocence in relation to the charges, but there’s an acceptance by him that he has not dealt with conflict well in relationships,” Mr Shand continued.
He went on to state that Calvert had undertaken two domestic abuse courses and “desires to be a better person”.
Mr Shand went on to describe Calvert as a business owner with four full-time employees.
“If Mr Calvert is sentenced to a custodial sentence, he does not see any way that the business can operate and this would obviously have an impact on his employees,” the lawyer said.
“There is a viable alternative to a custodial sentence and if Mr Calvert fails in any way he can be brought back to court and another sentence can be imposed,” Mr Shand added.
Abuser cannot approach women for 10 years
Sentencing Calvert, Sheriff Miller stated that he took into account the fact that Calvert had no previous convictions for domestic violence and that he “appeared to have recognised a need to examine his attitude towards dealing with conflict within relationships”.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, the sheriff made Calvert subject to a community payback order with supervision and ordered him to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
He also ordered him to take part in a domestic abuse programme.
In addition, Sheriff Miller put a non-harassment order in place, meaning Calvert cannot approach either of his female victims for 10 years.
The sheriff told Calvert he should be “in no doubt how close he came” to a custodial sentence.
Reacting to the sentence, the brother of one of Calvert’s victims described the family’s dissatisfaction at Sheriff Miller’s decision.
“We’re obviously disappointed with what we feel is a very lenient sentence for the severity of the crimes – 11 guilty charges with one involving ‘danger to life’ should merit a custodial sentence,” he said.
“Regardless of sentence he is now a convicted domestic abuser and that will never change. Our only concern is the harm he may cause to future partners, particularly as he’s shown no remorse for his actions.”
Victim would ‘shake’
During the trial, one of Calvert’s victims told the court that when he flew into rages it made her feel “really, really scared”.
“He could quite quickly change from being happy to quite angry,” she said, adding that at a certain point in their relationship she could tell when Calvert was about to turn violent and “wasn’t just going to use words anymore”.
She wept as she told the jury that Calvert had, on separate occasions, pushed her down a set of stairs, thrown a drink in her face, placed a tracking device in her phone and driven off and left her in an isolated location.
“I had never really been involved in anything like that, so my body would kind of shake. I was very scared.”
Giving evidence, Calvert denied strangling his partner and claimed she was prone to panic attacks, that made her pass out.
Calvert stated that the couple frequently fought, claiming that it was often jealousy on the part of the victim that sparked these rows.
After five hours of deliberation, jury of seven men and seven women delivered eleven guilty verdicts – including the danger of life assault.
Drove women to remote locations and left them there
Calvert, of Jesmond Road, Bridge of Don, sat unmoved as the guilty verdicts were read out.
He was also convicted of grabbing one woman by the hair and striking her head against a car window. On another occasion, he pulled her hair and caused an earring to be torn from her ear before pushing her from a hotel room.
Both women recounted similar examples of times when Calvert would drive them to remote locations and leave them there without a phone or money – returning for them later.
Another guilty charge reads that Calvert “did shout, swear and utter abusive and derogatory remarks towards her, throw food at her, strike her with your hand and cause her to fall and strike her head on a radiator to her injury, throw a Christmas present at her, force her body against a wall, place your hands around her neck and spit on her face”.
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