A man has been ordered to pay compensation to the Perthshire woman he attacked at the end of their first date.
John Main had been chatting online with his victim for about 18 months before they agreed to meet up in person.
But just hours of getting together, Main stormed out of her Auchterarder home and turned violent when she refused to let him back in.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how he dragged her from her doorway and pushed her to the ground, causing her to strike her head.
Main, 46, then tried to blame his date when police turned up.
He told them he would make a “counter complaint” against her.
Assault to injury
Main, who travelled from his home in Hamilton for the brief encounter, appeared in the dock and admitted assaulting the woman to her injury at her flat in the early hours of November 5 2023.
Prosecutor Duncan McKenzie said Main and his victim had matched on a dating app about one-and-a-half years earlier.
“They had never actually met before this date,” he said.
The couple met for the first time for drinks in Perth on November 4 last year.
They then boarded a night bus to Auchterarder, where they went to her home to continuing drinking.
During the night, they were joined by some of the complainer’s friends.
“All of a sudden, Mr Main got up and seemed quite agitated,” the fiscal depute said.
“Efforts were made to calm him down.
“The complainer followed him, but he walked out of the locus in the direction of High Street.
“She returned to the living room.”
‘Counter complaint’
The fiscal depute said: “A short time later, Mr Main returned to the complainer’s door.
“She asked him to leave and reached her hand over to the lock.
“He grabbed her on the body and pulled her out into the common close.
“Mr Main then pushed her, whereby she fell and struck her head on the stairs.”
A friend in the flat heard the commotion and ran out to assist.
“She saw Mr Main walking away from the area.”
His date suffered bruising to her knees, legs and arm, the court heard.
She also had a lump on her head.
When police caught up with Main, he claimed he had been assaulted.
“I’m making a counter complaint about her,” he told them.
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said his client and his date “are never going to speak again”.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis fined Main, of Mill Road, Hamilton, £750.
He must also pay his victim £250 compensation.
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