A 50-year-old Fife man punched his ex in the face while drunk, then went to her home and cut down a washing line and wrapped it round his neck.
Stuart Adsley had been drinking heavily at his then-home in Cowdenbeath and became abusive to his former partner of 25 years.
Procurator fiscal Zahra Bhatti told Dunfermline Sheriff Court: “He punched the complainer to the left eye, causing it to swell and bruise instantly.”
Ms Bhatti said the pair later went to her home, where he took a knife out of a kitchen drawer and went into the back garden and used it to cut down the washing line.
The depute fiscal continued: “The accused then wrapped the washing line around his neck in a bid to cause harm to himself.
“Police were contacted and he was cautioned and charged.”
Prison warning
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said his client struggled to remember what happened due to his level of intoxication but understood the claims made by the woman “would have been truthful”.
The solicitor said Adsley, of Church Street in Cowdenbeath, was “genuinely remorseful and disgusted with himself and realised she must have been terrified”.
Mr Morrison said their relationship had lasted 25 years or more and they have a number of children together.
The court heard Adsley has two previous convictions of a domestic nature.
Sheriff David Hall sentenced him to 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a two-year community payback order.
He must also complete the Caledonian Men’s Programme to tackle domestic abuse.
The sheriff told him the order is a direct alternative to custody and that, if he does not carry it out, he would be back in court and likely sent to prison.
Adsley previously pled guilty to assaulting his former partner by striking her on the head and grabbing her by the body to her injury on October 8 last year.
He also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, adopting an aggressive demeanour and accusing the woman of stealing his keys and money, taking hold of a knife, cutting a washing line down with it and wrapping the line around his neck in an attempt to harm himself.
