Train passengers called police after hearing an offshore worker’s threat to his partner during their journey.
Lewis Taylor told the woman: “Just wait till we get home” as the pair argued on board a service between Edinburgh and Inverness.
Such was his demeanour that other travellers in the carriage became uncomfortable, with one even standing up to intervene between the pair.
Taylor, 36, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident on October 2 2021.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood explained that the accused and complainer were on the train back from Edinburgh and had had “a couple of drinks” when things began to deteriorate.
She said: “Witnesses became aware of the accused becoming aggressive towards her.”
Alarmed passengers then heard Taylor tell the woman: “Just wait till we get home.”
Woman was ‘upset and crying’
“The complainer seemed upset and was crying,” Ms Hood said.
The exchange made other passengers in the carriage uncomfortable and police were contacted. At one point a passenger stood up to intervene between the two.
But when officers turned up the woman did not wish to engage with them.
Solicitor Marc Dickson said Taylor and the woman have been in a relationship for five or six years.
He said that on the day in question, “they had both taken far too much to drink” and a row had ensued.
Frustrations ‘bubbled to the surface’
He said the pair had got up early and had been “on the go” since. Taylor was suffering from a leg injury and “a number of frustrations bubbled to the surface”.
Mr Dickson said: “Mr Taylor accepts that his behaviour is inappropriate, he has since apologised unreservedly to the complainer.
“Clearly they, Mr Taylor certainly, caused a degree of discomfort to other individuals who were in the carriage.”
Mr Dickson said the incident was caught on CCTV and the pair could be seen hugging during the footage.
The court was told the couple remain in a relationship.
“From his perspective, they see a good future together,” Mr Dickson said, adding: “He bitterly regrets behaving in that way.”
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told Taylor: “This was shocking behaviour in a public place.
“What concerned me most is those threats you were making to your partner, ‘Just wait ’til you get home’, ‘You can’t speak to me like this’.
“It makes me wonder what would have happened when you got home?”
She sentenced Taylor, of Novar Road, Alness, to 63 hours of unpaid work.