Arbroath man who attacked pregnant girlfriend spared jail
ByThe Courier Reporter
An Arbroath man who assaulted his heavily-pregnant girlfriend has been spared jail by Sheriff Gregor Murray.
Joshua Harris, 19, of North Grimsby, Arbroath, was placed on a community payback order for a year with a requirement to perform 90 hours unpaid work.
Harris attacked his girlfriend Elizabeth Silver and she went into labour with the couple’s first child following the assault on February 24.
He repeatedly struck his at-the-time pregnant girlfriend on the head after damaging property by punching a window, a mirror and a door.
Just a week after appearing on the assault charge, Harris was back in the dock yesterday having defied the order by texting her.
There were a number of texts but they were mostly consisting of saying how much they missed each other. The texts were revealed when the girlfriend was being interviewed by social work for background reports.
Sentence was deferred until Tuesday when Harris again appeared before Sheriff Murray. Solicitor Sandra Sutherland said Harris had been drinking and smoking cannabis when the assault happened.
Sheriff Murray admonished Harris on the charge of breaching a bail condition by texting his girlfriend.
Arbroath man who attacked pregnant girlfriend spared jail