A boyfriend-from-hell threatened to torch his partner and a baby while they lay in bed and smashed up another girlfriend’s phone because she had male friends on Facebook.
Serial abuser James Stewart performed a spinning kick on another girlfriend, leaving her in “excruciating pain,” because he didn’t want her to go out with her pals.
Another time, he threatened to throw boiling water over a woman and a child.
Perth Sheriff Court heard he only calmed down when the woman apologised to him and told him it was all her fault.
The 24-year-old, from Perth, appeared in the dock on Thursday and admitted a series of domestically-aggravated offending against four ex-girlfriends between September 2017 and March 2021.
Two of his victims were forced to drop out of college because of his conduct, the court heard.
Sheriff Gillian Wade deferred sentence, but said she had so far not been persuaded that Stewart should serve “anything less” than four years in jail.
Faces ‘lengthy’ jail time
The sheriff told Stewart, who is listed as a prisoner at Barlinnie: “These are clearly despicable crimes.
“I take a very grim view of your behaviour.
“I take account you are a young man and there may be other matters that are causing this conduct.
“But that does not excuse the appalling catalogue of abuse you have perpetrated on a number of very young victims.”
She said: “You can be no doubt that a lengthy custodial sentence is at the forefront of my mind.”
Angry about friendship
Fiscal depute Gavin Burton said the offences dated back to September 2017, when Stewart was with a 16-year-old student at Elmwood College in Cupar.
During the first weeks of the six-month relationship, the teenager became friends with a female classmate at college.
“When she told the accused that she had been outside having a cigarette with her friend, he became angry,” said Mr Burton.
“A short time later, she received a message from the accused saying he was outside the college.
“She didn’t go outside because she was didn’t want any confrontation.
“The accused then walked into the class and began arguing with her.”
Later, Stewart led his girlfriend up a close on Crossgate.
He stopped her leaving by grabbing her throat, and raising his other hand as if he was going to punch her.
Mr Burton told the court: “Due to this incident, the complainer was frightened that the accused would come back to her class.
“She contacted the college and said she had to leave due to personal reasons.”
Lunged at second victim
When the relationship broke up, Stewart began contacting his second victim, who was 17 at the time.
Mr Burton said she was with him for about two months, between July to September 2018.
The court heard that, on one occasion at a flat in Perth, Stewart “lunged” at her and kicked her on the body, causing her to fall backwards and strike her head on a wall.
“This caused the complainer to bleed from the ear,” said Mr Burton.
He said Stewart regularly swore at and berated his girlfriend, accused her of flirting with other men and called her a “slag” and a “whore”.
Stewart later said he did this just to scare her.
Threatened with boiled kettle
After they broke up, Stewart almost immediately entered into another relationship with an 18-year-old.
This lasted for around a year, said Mr Burton.
On one occasion, the pair argued in the kitchen of a flat in Perth city centre, while a baby was nearby sitting in a high chair.
“The accused boiled a kettle and then threatened to throw the water over the complainer and the child,” the fiscal depute said.
“She begged him to stop. She started apologising, saying the incident was all her fault.
“After a period of time, this calmed the accused down.”
Mr Burton said: “On another occasion, the woman was in her bed with the baby.
“The accused came in and ignited a lighter and was putting the flame to the bed covers, threatening to set them alight while the woman and child were in the bed.
“She was very frightened for her and the child’s lives.”
The court heard that during the relationship, Stewart would punch holes around the flat and stab knives into walls.
He would regularly call her derogatory names, such as “fat slag”.
Mr Burton said: “This would upset the complainer, to the point that she began to believe she was all of the things the accused would call her.”
Woke up to punching
On April 14, 2019, Stewart was with the woman at her Perth flat, along with a neighbour.
He was “annoyed” because she was preparing to go out with friends.
“As she was about to leave, he did a spinning kick connected with both her thighs,” the prosecutor said.
“This caused her to fall to the ground in excruciating pain and she could hardly walk afterwards.”
Mr Burton when the couple were staying at a friend’s house in Inchaffrey Place, the woman was woken by Stewart punching her on the arms and upper body.
Smashed up phone
Another time in June, Stewart took valium, shouted at his girlfriend and smashed up her laptop.
He kicked her when she ran out of the house, the court heard.
Stewart further punched the woman in the face during a row at a friend’s flat in Glenturret Place.
“He then ran away and hid,” said Mr Burton. “As the complainer approached nearby Spider Park, the accused jumped out, causing her to fall to the ground in fear.
“He then started kicking and punching her on the body.
“She screamed out for help and a member of the public called the police.”
Mr Burton said Stewart later gave his girlfriend foundation to hide bruising under her left eye.
“He would regularly accuse her of cheating on him,” said the prosecutor. “And he would regularly spit mucus into her face, making her feel disgusted.
“Another time, he noticed that she had males on her Facebook page, so he smashed up her phone.”
Forced out of college
The court heard that Stewart became homeless after serving time in prison.
In January 2021, he stayed with a friend in Blairgowrie, where he began a relationship with a 16-year-old college student.
The first few weeks of the relationship were good, said Mr Burton. But then he began accusing her of cheating on him, because she had men on her social media account.
“He then convinced her to delete all males including her brother and cousin,” Mr Burton said. “He would accuse her of sleeping with her brother.
“When she was at college he would constantly message her and accuse her of cheating.
“In the end, she quit college due to the accused’s mood. She says she constantly felt on edge.”
Mr Burton said that during a family gathering, Stewart held a glass over her and threatened to hit her with it.
Stewart, who has a history of domestic abuse, admitted two charges of engaging in an abusive course of behaviour, two counts of assault and two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, likely to cause fear or alarm.
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