A former soldier with 20 years’ service subjected his 71-year-old mother to a ”very nasty” assault, a court has heard.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Scott Maich believed an entity had directed him to carry out the attack.
Maich (41), of no fixed abode, previously admitted that on July 25 at Balunie Terrace he assaulted Laura Maich and seized her by the throat, dragged her by the hair to the floor, thereafter dragged her on the ground and struck her head on the kitchen floor and coffee table, all to her injury, while on bail.
Maich previously appeared from custody with cuts on his head. At the time depute fiscal Gillian Sim said: ”He states he has smashed his head off a mirror.”
She added: ”He is clearly a danger to the public.”
Maich’s agent had tried to have him bailed to Henley House, a rehabilitation unit for ex-servicemen, but he was remanded in custody until Thursday’s appearance.
Representing Maich, John Hall said his client’s former fiancee in Bristol was now willing for him to be bailed to her address.
However, Sheriff George Way said there was nothing in Maich’s psychiatric report to suggest he was suffering from any psychotic conditions or post-traumatic stress.
He said: ”Because he can’t cope with life in a changed circumstance he’s using alcohol. This is a very nasty assault on someone Mr Maich was meant to have respect for and someone who was 71 and if this matter was deferred I would have to be sure society was safe.”
Mr Hall said his client himself had been ”horrified” by the assault he subjected his mother to.
He said: ”In the light of sobriety he was astounded, shocked and this morning he used the word ‘horrified’ by what he had done to his mother.
”He believes there was some entity in the house directing him to do this. He can’t reconcile his actions that night with 20 years of service in the military.”
He said people who are prone to such violence do not tend to rise to the rank of a non-commissioned officer, nor would they have served in every theatre of conflict the British army has served in in the past two decades.
The court heard previously that he understood his behaviour was erratic and he needed help.
Sheriff Way said he could not release Maich on bail until he was confident it would not be putting anyone at risk.
He said: ”What I have here is an assault on a woman with whom Mr Maich had a relationship his mother and I’m very concerned about him going and living with another woman he had a relationship with without a proper risk assessment being carried out.
He deferred sentence to August 20 for social work and the Crown to carry out checks and remanded Maich in custody in the meantime.