An abusive boyfriend whose terrified partner was forced to flee their Perth flat in just her pyjamas and socks has been jailed.
Neighbours called police after hearing a “blood-curdling scream”.
They looked outside and saw the woman being chased by partner Peter Alexander.
He told witnesses: “She’s crazy. She’s over-reacting.”
Alexander previously admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards his partner at the city’s Kirkgate Mews on October 24, last year.
He was originally sentenced to a restriction of liberty curfew but he returned to Perth Sheriff Court after breaching a court order to stay away from the woman.
Fiscal depute Stuart Hamilton said neighbours at Kirkgate Mews called police in November last year, after overhearing Alexander threatening to kick his partner’s door down.
“Due to the woman being a high risk victim of domestic abuse, officers gained entry to her flat to check on her welfare.
“She was found safe and well in the living room. The accused was hiding under a sofa. He was immediately arrested.”
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, defending, said Alexander had thought his bail conditions had been removed at an earlier court hearing.
“He accepts he got that wrong and that he must have misheard the sheriff.
Sheriff Gillian Wade revoked the community sentence and jailed Alexander for eight months.
Blackmail plot
Dundee blackmail plotter William Murray tried to force a married grandmother to hand over £1,000 after discovering she was selling sex through online escort agencies. He was caught when the woman’s daughter realised she knew him.
‘Outrageous assault’
A rambling Englishman who injured a woman outside a Fife pub in an “outrageous” random attack has been released from custody.
Christopher Stafforth appeared by video link at Dunfermline Sheriff Court after admitting assaulting a woman on January 5.
The 69-year-old had just exited The Burgh Arms pub on Inverkeithing High Street at 3.50pm when he struck his victim on the head.
She was a complete stranger who had been eating lunch with a friend on a bench there, on the head.
She was left with pain in her cheek bone.
HMP Perth inmate Stafforth, originally from West Sussex, was traced by police in the same pub in February.
Solicitor Stephen Morrison said Stafforth had spent some time moving from town to town in Scotland and had on occasion slept rough.
His client gave no reason for the assault.
Stafforth, who had three previous convictions in England all dating back at least 35 years, was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work by Sheriff Andrew Berry.
The sheriff said: “This was a random, outrageous assault.”
Sinning sommelier
The head sommelier at a top Scottish restaurant was caught behind the wheel of a broken-down car while nearly three times the legal alcohol limit. Frenk Trouw, chief wine waiter at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in the Gleneagles Hotel, was found by police, smelling of alcohol, in the driver’s seat of a Citreon C3, parked at the side of the M9.
Rooftop siege
John Greechan, who sparked a rooftop siege in Cowdenbeath after an Old Firm game, will be further supervised.
Greechan, 33, climbed up a drainpipe outside his flat in Blamey Crescent on March 21 last year after drinking and taking drugs while watching the Scottish Premiership fixture between Celtic and Rangers at a friend’s house.
He then made threats to police that he would stab them and throw tiles at them, punched roof tiles and threatened to jump from the building.
During the two hours siege, his flat was visited by two fire engines, a crane, police dog handlers, seven police vehicles, two police negotiators, two ambulances and other emergency service personnel.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Sheriff Andrew Berry placed him under supervision for nine months and added a conduct requirement to tackle alcohol misuse.
The sheriff noted it was more important for the court to try and tackle the root of Greechan’s offending than simply imprisoning him.
Rapist jailed
Dundee rapist Jordan Pearson, who turned up late at Dundee house parties to prey on vulnerable schoolgirls was detained for five years. He abused four girls when he was a 17-year-old, raping two of them.
The full caseload of the Dundee Crime and Courts Team can be found here.
