A man assaulted his estranged wife as the pair were making arrangements to sell their marital home, a court has been told.
Michael Bolger pushed his wife when she tried to get into the former couple’s home in Alvah to show a window surveyor around.
The 54-year-old and his wife had previously disagreed about what work needed to be carried out at the property before its sale.
When she arrived with the surveyor, on May 22 this year, she was unable to open the door with her key, forcing her to knock and face her husband.
But she was pushed back and told she wasn’t getting in, Banff Sheriff Court heard.
‘You should have said please’
At the time, the couple had been communicating entirely through solicitors.
Fiscal depute Ellen Barr said: “She told him they were there to see about measuring the windows and the accused replied, ‘No’ and slammed the door closed.
“However, the complainer put her foot in the way to stop it closing fully and he pushed her to the chest, causing her to stumble back several steps.”
Bolger later opened the door and told her: “You could have asked nicely and you should have said please”, before letting his wife and the surveyor inside the building.
The assault was reported to police after the woman received advice from her solicitor and Bolger later pled guilty to a charge of domestic assault at the earliest opportunity.
‘She thought he changed the lock. He got a tirade of abuse from her’
Bolger’s defence agent Stuart Beveridge told the court: “She thought he had changed the lock, which he hadn’t.
“He opened the door and he basically got a tirade of abuse from her. He told her she was not getting in unless she was more polite about it.”
Mr Beveridge said his client, a father and grandfather, “regrets his actions”.
Sheriff Robert McDonald ordered Bolger, of Hillcrest Road, Turriff, to be of good behaviour for six months and handed him a three-year non-harassment order.
“If there are no further incidents and I get a good behaviour report from the Crown, you will not need to attend court again and I will admonish you,” he added.
An admonition is where an accused person, who is guilty of a crime, is warned not to offend again.
It is recorded as a conviction and appears on their criminal record.
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