A man who tried to smash his way into his terrified partner’s home claims he did it because he wanted to retrieve his passport.
Christopher Barton tried knocking on the door of the property but was refused entry by the woman.
He then clambered onto a roof and attempted to gain access via a window.
When that didn’t work he grabbed a rock and used it to smash at the door of the property, leaving it so badly damaged it would not open when police arrived.
Barton, 31, appeared before Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour.
Fiscal depute Robyn Macleod said the incident began at around 3.40pm on July 14 last year when Barton knocked on the door of the property shouting the woman’s name.
Man was ‘hammering on door’
“The witness engaged with the accused through the letter box. She refused him entry. The accused became angry and started hammering on the door,” Ms Macleod said.
Around this time a neighbour noticed Barton was visible on their CCTV, sitting outside the property and speaking through the front door.
They continued to watch the live footage and observed the accused kicking the front door.
After this Barton climbed onto a small roof and the woman heard a voice from a nearby open window asking: “What are you doing? Let me in.”
The concerned woman began to film Barton using her mobile telephone as he repeatedly punched the window, leaving her “terrified”.
Man tried to smash into home with rock
After this Barton resumed banging on the door of the property and then picked up a stone which he used to strike at the front door.
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Barton, said his client had been struggling with business and “day to day” pressures at the time of the incident.
He said Barton’s passport had been within the property and he had been attempting to retrieve it in advance of a holiday to Greece.
He said: “Mr Barton wishes to apologise for his conduct. It was completely out of order and unnecessary.”
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told Barton, of Barclay Gardens, North Kessock: “This is an extremely violent behaviour toward your partner causing her some distress and causing a huge disturbance.
“It is very strange behaviour. You quite easily could go to jail for behaviour like this, but instead, I am going to impose a community payback order.”
Sheriff MacDonald ordered him to complete two years supervision, and to undertake the Caledonian Men’s Programme – designed to educate men who engage in domestic abuse, for the same period.
