A first-time domestic offender has avoided going to prison for an attack on his ex in which he kicked her in the head as she attempted to escape upstairs from his drunken rage.
But James Watt was slammed by a sheriff for showing a lack of empathy towards the woman.
The 44-year-old left his victim bloodied and bruised with a head butt to the face.
Watt, of Windyedge Place in Forfar appeared for sentence before Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown at the town’s sheriff court having previously admitted assaulting his then partner at their home on December 10 last year by grabbing her by the throat, butting her to the face and kicking her to the head, to her injury.
Depute fiscal Stewart Duncan told the court the pair had been out drinking with friends in Forfar earlier that evening but an argument broke out after midnight when they had returned home.
The victim described the row as being “over nothing” but Watt grabbed her by the throat and butted her nose, causing it to bleed.
Mr Duncan said the woman’s grown-up daughter was also in the house and the victim attempted to go upstairs to get help from her.
“She vomited on the stairs and as she continued to try to get upstairs he managed to kick her to the right side of the face,” the fiscal added.
The daughter saw her mother lying on the stairs, bleeding, and called police.
Defence solicitor Sarah Russo said the relationship was now over and first-offender Watt was remorseful for his actions that night.
“He had left the pub first and when she returned home an argument ensued.
“He does not seek to use it as an excuse, but in terms of the amount of alcohol that had been consumed, when police tried to interview him they were unable to do so.
“There is no getting away from the fact this was a particularly nasty assault,” she added.
“There is also no getting away from the fact that this matter could attract a custodial sentence.”
The kick to the head had been a reaction after the woman bit the accused, the court was told.
“He drinks on a daily basis and at weekends, and that has been identified as a factor that requires intervention,” added Ms Russo.
Sheriff Martin-Brown told Watt: “I am concerned that the criminal justice report highlights little victim empathy for what is a very serious assault.”
She imposed a two-year Community Payback Order including supervision and 160 hours unpaid work.
