Husband flew into rage after wife forgot to buy newspaper

An irate husband assaulted his wife because she forgot to buy him a newspaper, a court has heard.

Veteran Alistair McLean, 55, of Fletcher Place, Crieff, admitted attacking his wife at their home on June 23.

He was admonished at Perth after Sheriff Lindsay Foulis heard he had no money to pay a fine, and ailments meant he could not complete unpaid community work.

The sheriff said: “I certainly wasn’t thinking of admonishing you, because it’s a bit more serious than that. This was a nasty incident. It would have been most unpleasant for your wife.

“However, I accept you are unlikely to be fit for unpaid work. There is no point imposing a financial penalty when you are back together and in straitened financial circumstances, as you would both suffer.

“I don’t see any point in prolonging matters any further, so in the circumstances I will admonish you.”

Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said McLean wasn’t happy because he was not given a newspaper.

“The accused grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her face into the garden fence a number of times,” she said.