A violent thug who battered his “second-class citizen” wife in Dundee after a trivial argument over a laptop has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
Larry Onaghise was lambasted for the “vicious” and “sustained” attack.
Onaghise, 33, was previously ordered to attend for an additional social work report after denying the offence in an interview.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told how an argument initially broke out between the woman and Onaghise at around 9pm, which continued throughout the evening.
Onaghise made “derogatory” remarks towards her before becoming enraged after accusing her of breaking a laptop.
“The accused phoned his mother to inform her of damage caused to the laptop,” prosecutor Carrie-Anne Mackenzie said.
“The complainer used this to tell her that he had been disrespectful towards her.
“This angered the accused, who approached her and pushed her back onto the floor in the hall causing her to strike the door frame.”
The woman bravely fought back and scratched Onaghise’s face, which he claimed left scarring.
She was slapped on the head and body before being dragged into another room.
Tensions escalated and at around 11pm Onaghise pinned the woman “tightly” against the living room wall by the neck and punched her to the left side of the face.
Mrs Mackenzie said the woman fell to the floor and bit her lip in the process.
She eventually managed to escape Onaghise’s clutches and contacted police, who noted the woman had swelling to her jaw area and was unable to open her mouth fully.
She did not seek medical treatment and did not wish for the court to impose a non-harassment order on Onaghise.
‘Second-class citizen’
On the day of his trial, Onaghise, of Morgan Street, pled guilty to assaulting the woman to her injury by struggling violently with her, pushing her, slapping her, repeatedly punching her, seizing her neck and attacking her while she was on the floor on June 30 2024 at an address in Dundee.
Solicitor Billy Watt said after previous difficulties, Onaghise now accepted his conduct on the day in question.
He said: “There certainly seems to be work required with Mr Onaghise given his values and certain views he seems to uphold.”
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith interjected: “The view that he holds is that his wife is a second-class citizen and is there to serve him.”
Mr Watt replied: “That seems to be how it’s been reported. He says he has deep respect for her.”
The solicitor urged the sheriff to follow a social work report recommendation and impose a community payback order as an alternative to custody.
“The flavour of the narrative is that this was a sustained attack upon your wife for no reason other than a disagreement about a laptop, which may or may not have been damaged,” the sheriff told first offender Onaghise.
“I consider this to be a nasty, vicious, sustained course of assault upon this female.
“In my view, you have crossed the custody threshold.”
However, the sheriff stepped back from imposing custody, saying it would not serve to rehabilitate Onaghise or protect any potential future partners from him.
He was ordered to perform 270 hours of unpaid work and placed on supervision for 12 months.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
