An alcoholic who assaulted his partner a day after getting engaged to her over the festive period has been ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and told to “take a long, hard look” at himself.
Marcin Olejniczak, of Lerwick’s Hill Grind, previously pleaded guilty to seizing his partner by the body and punching her to her injury on Boxing Day.
The 38-year-old also admitted assaulting another woman at the same address by pushing her on the body, causing her to strike her head against a doorframe and fall to the floor, and striking her with his hand to her injury.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that all of the participants had been drinking alcohol “for some time” prior to the incidents.
Olejniczak’s fiancee sustained bruising to her wrist and toe, while the other complainant sustained a large bang to the back of her head, resulting in an ambulance attending the scene.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had spent a week in custody before being granted bail on January 5.
It had been a “regrettable lapse” for Olejniczak, for whom alcohol is “the blight of his life”, but he has been making real progress in dealing with his addiction and there has been a “significant gap” in offending.
Sheriff Philip Mann described it as a “significant setback” and instructed Olejniczak to “watch the company you keep and “really take a long, hard look at it”.
“If you fall off the wagon and behave in this manner, there’s only one place for you to go,” he said.
