An abusive thug who was spared jail four years ago for assaulting his pregnant partner has finally been locked up after he fled to Germany to evade a court order.
Shaun Brown smashed his girlfriend’s nose after she refused to let him play games on her mobile phone.
The vicious attack at the woman’s Perth home in July 2017 was described by Sheriff William Wood as “terrible and sustained”.
However, he was persuaded not to jail Brown and instead ordered him to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.
The homeless 27-year-old has returned to Perth Sheriff Court after leaving the country instead of facing punishment.
No alternative to prison
The court heard he was arrested when he returned to Scotland after spending time in Germany, having completed only part of his work order.
Sheriff Wood said he had no option but to impose a 10-month jail sentence.
He told Brown: “You have returned to the UK having effectively fled this court order, and you have nowhere to live.
“Because of the uncertainty about your personal circumstances and because of your propensity to leave the country, this causes the court some difficulty.
“I can see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
The court heard Brown went to Germany after his “life collapsed” and he lost his job.
The woman he assaulted – who agreed to take him back in 2018 – decided she wanted nothing more to do with him.
Solicitor John McLaughlin said: “He made a rash decision to move to Germany.
“But he knew that when he returned to the country he would be arrested.”
Locked herself in bathroom
The court previously heard Brown lashed out and threatened to kill his partner during a sustained tirade of verbal abuse at her home in Perth.
He had already smashed his own phone in a rage after falling out with a neighbour, before turning his ire on his girlfriend and smashing her television and a glass.
When she asked him to leave, he began to scream abuse at her, before threatening her and then punching her on the nose.
She was forced to flee and lock herself in the bathroom as Brown made threats to return and kill her.
When he briefly left the house she took the opportunity to run to a friend’s home, from where she called the police.
Her nose was still bleeding profusely when officers arrived.
Brown had initially claimed the blow had been accidental.
He later admitted a second assault on the same woman in September 2017, kicking her on the body to her injury, after an argument.
