A man who attacked his partner was arrested after the assault was captured on a neighbour’s video doorbell.
Edward Hughes lunged at the woman and tore out clumps of her hair after she took longer than expected running an errand.
But a neighbour at the address on Royal Walk, Nairn, spotted the incident on their Ring doorbell and notified police.
Hughes, 59, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of assault with a domestic aggravation.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan told the court that at 9.55pm on December 17 last year the neighbour received a notification on his mobile phone that the Ring doorbell had been activated.
The footage showed the woman entering the communal hallway and walking up the stairs. At this point, Hughes entered the hallway and begins to shout at her “in an aggressive manner”.
Man lunged at woman
“It has been observed that the accused has lunged forward with his arms out front, has pushed the complainer and she has stumbled at that time,” said Ms MacEwan.
The concerned neighbour contacted the police who carried our door-to-door enquiries at the address.
When Hughes answered the door he told them: “I had a heated argument with the girlfriend that got out of hand.”
He was arrested, cautioned and charged.
Police saw ‘clumps of hair’ in stairwell
“In the communal stairs the accused indicated towards clumps of hair,” Ms MacEwan said.
He told officers: “It got out of hand and I pulled her hair.”
Solicitor Clare Russell, for Hughes, said that her client had become concerned when his partner of 17 years had failed to return from running an errand as expected.
She said that the woman suffers from health issues and Hughes was worried that something had happened to her.
“Instead of expressing his concern in an appropriate manner he acted in the manner libelled,” Ms Russell said.
The court heard that the woman had not wished the police to become involved.
Sheriff Robert Frazer deferred sentence on Hughes, of Royal Walk, Nairn, for three months to allow him to demonstrate good behaviour.
