A domestic abuser punched his pregnant partner in the stomach because there was no food in the house, a court has heard.
Nathan Kerr carried out a vicious catalogue of abuse against his former partner that included assaulting her on several occasions – once throwing a stereo speaker at her face, which left a large gash on her lip.
On another occasion, the 27-year-old punched the woman in the stomach despite knowing she was six months pregnant.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that Kerr then told her: “I didn’t even punch you that hard.”
He later encouraged the woman to lie to a midwife about what had caused her injuries.
Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told the court that in early 2019 the couple were having an argument over money.
It resulted in Kerr becoming verbally abusive while blaming the woman for their lack of cash.
Kerr then picked up an empty coffee mug and hurled it at the woman.
It struck near her elbow and smashed, leaving a shard sticking out of the woman’s arm.
Around May or June 2019, Kerr became angry as he had no cash for cigarettes and wanted the woman to ask her mother for money.
He then picked up a speaker from on top of a chest of drawers and threw it at the television, causing the screen to smash.
Kerr then picked up the speaker again and threw it at the woman and struck her on the face, just under her bottom lip.
Ms MacVicar told the court: “The complainer ran through to the bathroom and saw there was a small circular hole under her lip which she could put the tip of her tongue through”.
She ‘shouldn’t have p***** him off’
The court heard that Kerr then told the woman that she “shouldn’t have p***** him off”.
In May 2020, Kerr again started an argument about money and a lack of food in the house before he flipped over a coffee table and punched his pregnant partner in the stomach.
“The complainer doubled over in pain and the accused then said: ‘I didn’t even punch you that hard’,” Ms MacVicar said.
He later told the woman to call her midwife but wanted to know what she was going to say.
The woman answered that she would tell the midwife she had fallen over.
Kerr pleaded guilty to one charge of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive to his partner, by striking her with a mug and a speaker to her permanent disfigurement and by repeatedly assaulting her, despite knowing she was pregnant.
He admitted a further charge of breaching a bail condition not to approach or contact the woman.
‘Issues with his temper’
Defence agent Neil McRobert explained Kerr had acknowledged that during the relationship he had “issues with his temper” and would become “angry on occasion”.
He added: “He has sought help for his mental health for depression and anxiety.
“Custody could be imposed in this case but that would be something Mr Kerr would hope to avoid.
“He has been of good behaviour in the two years since this conduct.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace described Kerr’s actions as a “course of conduct of serious domestic abuse”.
“But I’m satisfied I can deal with this through a non-custodial sentence,” he added.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, the sheriff sentenced Kerr to a community payback order with supervision for two years and ordered him to take part in a domestic abuse programme.
Sheriff Wallace also ordered Kerr, of Park Drive in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Kerr was also placed under a non-harassment order, meaning he cannot approach his former partner for five years.
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