A brave toddler stepped in to try to fight off a man who was throttling his pregnant mother.
The three-year-old rushed forward to rain blows on David Hodge and shouted at him: “Don’t hit mummy”.
Witnesses who were nearby could hear the young boy shouting at Hodge as he pinned the pregnant woman to a sofa and compressed her neck.
Depute fiscal Bill Kermode said Hodge had known the woman for some time and he told Perth Sheriff Court: “She was also 20 weeks pregnant at the time.
“At 11pm the accused was in the living room and the complainer was there, along with a number of other witnesses.
“He used a loud voice to ask where she had been.
“The other people heard the accused shouting and becoming aggressive.
“The witnesses could hear a child shouting ‘don’t hit mummy’.
“He was three years old at the time of the offence.
“The accused grabbed the complainer round the neck and was restricting her breathing. It stopped her breathing.
“The child was hitting the accused and telling him not to hit the complainer.
“The child continued to hit him and told him to stop.
“The complainer said the accused pushed her onto a sofa and straddled her. She was left with a bruised knee and soreness to the neck, but did not seek medical attention.
“There were initially fears that the unborn child may have been harmed and the complainer was taken to hospital for checks.
“The check-up confirmed there was no injury or damage.”
Hodge, 29, Struan Road, Perth, admitted assaulting and injuring the woman while she was pregnant by pushing her on to a couch, sitting astride her and throttling her.
He admitted causing fear or alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner during the incident at an address at Ballingry in Fife on 10 May last year.
Hodge also admitted stealing a T-shirt from River Island on December 4 last year and stealing an iPad from a home in Perth on June 7 this year.
The court was told that Hodge had stolen the iPad from a friend’s home and had placed it on an auction site for sale.
The owner, Rachel Morrison, tracked it down and realised Hodge had taken it, but even when he was confronted he refused to hand it back.
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said Hodge’s life had improved since the period when he committed the offences and he was now in full-time employment and a positive relationship.
Sheriff William Wood told Hodge: “If anything else comes up of a similar nature then you won’t keep your liberty.
“I understand you have had difficulties and have taken steps to try and resolve those.
“I am satisfied I can deal with it other than by a custodial sentence, but you are sailing close to the wind.”
Hodge has to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work in relation to the assault and a further 105 hours for stealing the iPad.
He was ordered to pay £300 compensation to Rachel Morrison.