A community council member has been found guilty of shoving his wife down a flight of stairs after she goaded him over the affair she suspected he was having.
Network Rail mobile operations manager Malcolm Scobie flew into a rage and pushed his hair stylist wife Catherine until she lost her footing and tumbled down the steps.
Perth Sheriff Court was told there had been friction between the couple over her belief that Scobie had been “playing away” with another woman.
Scobie, 44, admitted there had been a violent row between the couple but claimed he had been attacked by his wife as he tried to get away from her nagging.
Mrs Scobie, 42, told the trial that she had jabbed a finger into her husband’s torso but was shocked when he turned round and pushed her down the stairs.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis found Scobie guilty of assaulting his wife at their home in Main Street, Aberuthven, by knocking her down a flight of stairs to her injury.
Scobie, now of Bruce Crescent, Plean, was also found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing and acting aggressively on April 21, 2019.
Sheriff Foulis said: “When relationships break down situations can be emotionally charged and things can happen. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt you assaulted your estranged wife.
“I consider her evidence to be of a very high standard. She was a very credible and reliable witness. She didn’t shy away from giving aspects of the incident which perhaps did not put her in the best light.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt she was not prepared to accept your refusal to answer questions and she wanted to persist.
“You go upstairs to avoid questions and she follows you and pokes you in the back and that is the spark which causes you to lose it, and you turn and push her.”
Depute fiscal Michael Sweeney told the court: “He was angry at the time.”
The court was told the incident had started when Mrs Scobie – who suspected her husband was in another relationship – asked the accused where he had been.
Solicitor Doug McConnell, defending, said: “There are two very similar versions of events leading up to what happened. There was a breakdown in the relationship.”
He said Scobie earned more than £50,000 a year and that the relationship had come to an end.
Sheriff Foulis fined Scobie, who sits on the Auchterarder Community Council, £750.
