A tree surgeon who beat his partner so severely with a boot that she thought she was going to die was jailed for three years yesterday.
A court heard Aaron Urquhart subjected his Swedish girlfriend to a decade of abuse and when arrested, police found a stun gun in his vehicle.
The 40-year-old, formerly of Donald Cameron Court, Maryburgh, had been remanded in custody since last August and appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
He had earlier admitted that between July 2014 and July last year on numerous occasions, he assaulted Hannah Gradin by punching, slapping, kicking her on the head and body, head-butting her and striking her with a boot causing her to be sick, all to her injury.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge that between August 1, 2015 and Aug 2 last year, he was in illegal possession of a stun gun.
Urquhart admitted a further charge that he breached his bail condition by contacting his partner by phone the day after he was granted bail at Inverness Sheriff Court on August 1 last year.
His solicitor advocate Shahid Latif told Sheriff Margaret Neilson that it was accepted a period of imprisonment was inevitable.
But he added: “When my client looks in his rear view mirror of his life, he is shocked and remorseful.
“There cannot be an excuse for his conduct. But there is an explanation. He was working in Sweden as an experienced tree surgeon which placed him under great stress and pressure.
“As a coping mechanism, he was drinking alcohol to excess. When he returned to this country, it all turned on its head as there was insufficient work and he again turned to alcohol.
“While in custody, he has embarked on the road to rehabilitation by participating in various programmes for domestic and alcohol abuse. These are important protective factors.”
However Sheriff Neilson told Urquhart: “These are extremely serious charges which make unpleasant reading and give cause for concern.”
She backdated the sentence to August 12 when Urquhart was first remanded.
The court had been told that the couple met in Sweden in 2007 while Urquhart was working there. They returned to Ross-shire in 2013 and almost a year later, the domestic violence became apparent.
Fiscal depute Michelle Molley said that the couple had returned from a wedding when he repeatedly punched, slapped and kicked her on the head and body.
“Her injuries were so concerning that he took her to hospital. It was not reported to police.
“But as her injuries began to heal, he regularly assaulted her again by again repeatedly punching and kicking her on the head and body, and headbutting her. These assaults were not reported to the police.
“But in June 2016 when she was asleep, he climbed on top of her and repeatedly struck her on the head with a boot and she vomited. She thought she would die during the assault which lasted half an hour.
“She said it was the worst beating she had received.”
Sheriff Neilson was told that it was Ms Gradin’s mother who reported the abuse to police after officers were called to the house after a report of a disturbance.
Ms Molley added: “She told police ‘I’ve put up with this for 10 years. I have done it! I can’t believe I have finally done it.’
After her statement was taken, it became apparent that he had possessed a stun gun for around a year.
