A milkman held a bread knife to his wife’s chest following a row after she found messages on his iPad.
Robert Ritchie walked to the kitchen to get the blade as the couple argued at their home on Westray Road in Aberdeen on January 22.
The 57-year-old marched up to the woman and held the knife to her chest.
Fiscal depute Jennifer Pritchard told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The accused and complainer have been in a relationship for approximately 25 years and reside together at the locus.
“Around 11.45pm an argument ensued between the couple in relation to some messages the complainer had found on the accused’s iPad.
“During the argument, the complainer referred to an incident from the previous week and stated ‘I nearly lost my life on Tuesday and you weren’t bothered’.
“The accused got up from the sofa in the living room and stated something along the lines of ‘I might as well lose mine as well then’.
“The accused walked into the kitchen and came back with a bread knife.
Accused showed ‘deep remorse’
“He thereafter walked up to the complainer and put the knife to her chest.”
Police were contacted and arrived to arrest Ritchie.
Ritchie, of Westray Road, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a domestically aggravated charge of assault.
Defence agent Caitlin Pirie said her client, who is self-employed as a milkman, had expressed “deep remorse”.
She added the incident had been the culmination of pressures of the pandemic and arguments around alcohol and substance issues.
Sheriff Eric Brown fined Ritchie £280.
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