A 27-year-old man was branded “a danger to women” by a sheriff who jailed him at Inverness Sheriff Court for a total of 40 months.
Callum Brown, who has been on remand in Inverness since July 21 last year, was also told that he would be supervised for 10 months after his release following guilty pleas to a string of domestic abuse involving five different women.
Sheriff Sara Matheson told Brown, described in court papers as an Inverness prisoner, that if he breached any requirements of that supervision order, he would be returned to prison for the period that was left.
In addition, Brown had five non-harassment orders placed on him to protect his victims.
Sheriff Matheson said: “It is clear from the victim impact statements of two of your former partners that it has had a profound impact on them. I consider that you present a serious risk to any woman who may form a relationship with you.”
She added that the fact that some of the offences were committed after Brown was released from remand awaiting sentence on earlier crimes of violence made that more serious.
At an earlier hearing, the court was told that the domestic abuse task force investigated Brown for violence against two women, one of them pregnant, and it led to the discovery of more victims.
The Inverness man with Ross-shire connections admitted a total of 13 charges across two separate investigations into offences committed against five different women between February 17 2014 and July 2021.
They were six of assault to injury, two of a course of domestic abuse, one of assault to injury and permanent disfigurement, one of stalking, one of threatening behaviour, assault and a breach of a non-harassment order.
He was originally charged with a total of 35 crimes.
Brown assaulted pregnant parter
Fiscal depute David Barclay told the court about Brown’s catalogue of offending which took place in properties in Ullapool and Inverness.
The first involved a woman with whom Brown had a relationship between January 2014 and October 2015.
The court heard he pushed her against a doorframe, cutting her eye and leaving her with a permanent scar.
On another occasion, he burned his partner with a cigarette he was holding as he pushed her on the head before punching and kicking her on the body.
A third charge involved Brown becoming angry and grabbing her neck when his partner wouldn’t visit one of his family members.
The court was told she ended the relationship but Brown made repeated attempts to contact her through social media, phone calls making threats and abusive comments and once he turned up and entered her home.
The second victim was pregnant and he attempted to hit her with a crutch he was using at the time, twice butted her on the head, punched her to the head and body, grabbed her by the neck and threw items at her on repeated occasions in her Ullapool home between July 2017 and April 2019.
Mr Barclay added: “Despite a non-harassment order being granted on July 4 2019, he repeatedly contacted the woman by mobile phone and social media.”
Sheriff Matheson was then told about three other victims being found in Inverness after one complained to the police about Brown’s behaviour.
He grabbed one woman by the neck with both hands and pushed her back onto a sofa.
‘He genuinely regrets how he behaved’
A second woman was not physically hurt by him but he would regularly become angry, be verbally abusive and punch holes in the walls.
A third involved a former near neighbour of Brown’s he became involved with in the first few months of 2021.
Mr Barclay continued: “He would shout and swear at her and call her names. Around March 2021 he grabbed her by the neck, compressed his grip, straddled her and punched her face causing bruising.”
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said: “He accepts his behaviour was entirely unacceptable but it is attributable in part to his mental health issues and his Xanax addiction.
“He genuinely regrets how he behaved with each one. He is not trying to shift blame, but, on occasion, he was the victim of arguments but didn’t report anything to the police.”
