A serial domestic abuser put a pregnant woman in a headlock and stubbed a lit cigarette out on her chest during one of several assaults spanning an 11-month period in Fife.
Michael Stuart also repeatedly punched his victim on the head and body and threatened her with violence during the course of his terrifying behaviour in Burntisland.
Stuart appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court this week by video link to prison to admit that between February 1 2015 and January 1 2016 he assaulted his then-partner on various occasions.
The 33-year-old is already serving a lengthy prison sentence for raping and physically assaulting two women at addresses in Inverness and Kirkcaldy.
He was convicted by a jury following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2017.
Post-pub assaults
Prosecutor Alistair McDermid told the court that in February 2015 Stuart, after hearing about an earlier incident in a bar in Burntisland, woke the woman as she slept
He pulled her out of bed by her legs onto the floor and shouted abuse at her about her making a fool of him in the pub.
He repeatedly pushed her back down as she tried to get up before punching her on the face and body multiple times.
When the woman ran into the bedroom, he punched her again on the temple.
The fiscal depute said: “She was begging the accused to stop and told him how he was hurting her.”
Around two weeks later, Stuart assaulted the woman again when he returned home at around 5am under the influence of alcohol.
There was an argument and he began goading the woman to hit him.
She started punching him in anger before he told her she was “a joke” and “flipped her over” and began punching her, the fiscal said.
A child at the property saw Stuart beating the woman, the court heard.
She was left with bruising but did not seek medical attention.
Assaulted while pregnant
In July 2015 the woman was 20 weeks pregnant when she woke in her bed to see Stuart on a video call to an ex-partner.
She confronted him and he told her she should not be looking at his phone.
The fiscal continued: “The complainer got out of bed and went to leave the room.
“The accused grabbed her from behind with his arm and placed her in a tight headlock.
“She tried to bite his arm to get him off.
“He took a lit cigarette and stubbed it out on skin of the complainer’s chest.
“She screamed that he had burned her and he let her go.”
On another occasion after a 2016 New Year’s Day party they were hosting, he punched the woman on the face until she bled after hearing she was considering moving away.
She reported the incidents to police in January 2019.
Sentencing
Defence lawyer Darran Khorasani said Stuart is currently serving a lengthy custodial sentence, with an earliest release date of May 13 next year.
The solicitor said Stuart witnessed domestic violence throughout his upbringing.
Mr Khorasani said Stuart had asked him to express his remorse for his behaviour, and to say he is ashamed and embarrassed about it.
He said Stuart voluntarily undertook domestic abuse courses in 2016 and 2017, before he was jailed.
Sheriff James Williamson told Stuart: “Considering your record it would be fair to say you are a serial domestic abuser.”
The sheriff said burning a pregnant woman with a cigarette was a “quite appalling assault” and jailed him for 28 months.
He banned Stuart from contacting his victim for five years.
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