A Fife abuser was hunted down by police and found hiding in bushes after he brutally assaulted his ex-partner.
Drunken Gary Crawford turned up at the woman’s door in Lochore in the early hours of Sunday morning, covered in mud and wearing just one shoe.
The 40-year-old grabbed his former girlfriend round the neck, repeatedly bashed her head against walls and windows and punched her.
Crawford was jailed when he appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court the following day.
He was ordered to stay away from his ex for six years.
Slammed front door
The woman was with a friend who was preparing to get a taxi home at around 3am when Crawford arrived in a drunken state, the court heard.
Senior procurator fiscal depute Azrah Yousaf said: “He came into the property and did appear to be covered in mud and wearing one shoe.
“He was drunk and falling forward while in the house.”
The woman’s friend tried to persuade Crawford to leave when the taxi arrived but, after initially walking towards the vehicle, he ran back into the house and slammed the door behind him before carrying out his terrifying attack.
Ms Yousaf said: “He was then seen to push the complainer, grabbed her by the throat with both hands and threw her to the ground.
“She was trying to defend herself by pushing and scratching him.
“He was seen to repeatedly grab her face and head against a wall and window. He was then seen to push her around the hallway.”
The fiscal depute added: “She tried to open the door and push him out but did not succeed and was continually held back by the accused.”
Found in bushes by police
Ms Yousaf told the court the woman’s friend saw much of the violence through a window from outside the property.
Crawford was then seen running away as police were contacted.
The depute fiscal continued: “When the friend got back in the house, she saw the complainer sitting on the stairs.
“She was crying and her left eye was bruised and swollen. She had red marks to her neck and a mark to her body.
“Police officers searched the area and dog handlers were called in.
“The accused was found within large bushes by officers. He was arrested at that stage, cautioned and charged.”
‘Vicious and unprovoked’
Crawford, of Primmer Place in Cowdenbeath, admitted the assault charge and another offence of breaching a non harassment order by contacting the woman when he appeared in court from custody on Monday.
Sheriff Alison Michie jailed Crawford for a 10 months and imposed a six-year non-harassment order.
The Sheriff told him: “You have pleaded guilty to an assault with domestic aggravation.
“This was a vicious and unprovoked attack on your former partner and you attacked her at her home address in the early hours of the morning and, thereafter, committed a very serious assault on her to her injury.”
The Sheriff also said Crawford had a previous record of violence, including at the High Court, and his last two convictions were for domestic offences involving the same woman.
Crawford’s defence lawyer, Chris Sneddon, said his client had “little recollection” of his behaviour at the property and that he wanted to apologise to his former partner and her friend.
