A violent brute who choked his former partner with both hands and punched her has dodged a prison sentence.
Mark Watson, 60, left his victim bloodied and bruised following the vicious attack at the woman’s flat in the Menzieshill area of Dundee.
The city’s sheriff court heard Watson “shrugged” as he saw the woman lying on the ground, injured before leaving the scene.
Watson’s terrified victim screamed for help and feared she would pass out while he choked her.
He narrowly escaped a jail term after pleading guilty to attacking the woman and breaching bail conditions.
‘A blight on our society’
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “Domestic abuse is a blight on our society.
“People like you cannot and will not be allowed to behave in the way that you did.
“Your record, however, is limited. I have to balance those two things.
“What you did merits a custodial sentence.
“It is recommended that you are placed on a bespoke community payback order.
“I am prepared to give you that chance but you are going to be kept on a very tight rein.”
Straddled woman and choked her
The court was told how Watson and the woman became embroiled in a heated argument over their past.
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson said: “The accused grabbed her and threw her on the bed.
“The accused straddled her, placing both hands around her throat and compressed her neck.
“She was very scared that she would pass out.
“She was screaming for help and the accused continued to assault her by punching her on the head to her injury.
“She tried to cover herself as much as possible to protect herself.”
Watson then left the scene after “shrugging” at his injured ex-partner.
Police attended and found the woman with a bloodied forehead, bruising under her eye and redness around her chest and neck.
She did not require hospital treatment.
The charges and punishment
Watson, of Mary Slessor Square, later attended Lochee police office where he made no reply after being charged.
He previously pled guilty to pinning the woman against a wall, throwing her onto a bed, straddling her, compressing her neck and punching her on the head to her injury on April 21 in a property in Thurso Crescent.
He also admitted breaching bail on June 23 by approaching and contacting the woman at Home Bargains, The Stack.
Watson was ordered to perform a total of 240 hours of unpaid work with supervision for two years.
He was also placed on the Caledonian Programme for domestic offenders for the same period.
A non-harassment order was also imposed on Watson, meaning he is banned from approaching or contacting the woman for the next two years.
