A man who attacked his ex in a motorhome after slamming on the brakes as she rode in the back has escaped a jail sentence.
Robbie Burton got the woman in a headlock and left her with “a significant number of injuries”.
He also cut himself and made threats against his own life in a separate incident of threatening or abusive behaviour the following day, during which he called the woman a “fat cow”, mocked her accent and threatened to “break her father’s neck”.
Burton, 26, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted charges of assault to injury and threatening or abusive behaviour towards his ex-partner.
Fiscal depute David Morton told the court that the woman had contacted Burton as “she was worried about him and she wanted to say goodbye and put an end to their relationship”.
On May 23 of last year the pair had been travelling together in a motorhome with Burton driving and the woman as a front seat passenger.
Mr Morton said: “At some point on the journey the accused instructed her to get into the back of the van.
“She climbed into the rear of the van and shortly thereafter an argument occurred between them.
Abrupt braking injured woman
“This escalated to the point that the accused stopped the vehicle by braking abruptly, resulting in the witness falling off the seat and landing on a plastic bowl, which smashed, causing a cut to her leg and bruising.
“The accused then climbed into the rear of the van, where he began to assault the witness.
“He pushed her to the floor of the van, then sat on the seat next to her.
“The accused then placed his arm around her neck and put her in a headlock, taking hold of her from behind with his arm all the way around her neck.”
The fiscal depute said the woman’s recollection of the incident was “broken ” but said “a significant number of injuries were sustained”.
The court heard that following this incident Burton parked the vehicle in Carrbridge overnight but it became stuck in a ditch.
‘He has ruined her life’
Burton became “agitated” waiting for the vehicle to be recovered and began to self-harm, to the point that he eventually needed 17 stitches.
A video taken by the woman showed him shouting and swearing and threatening to “break her dad’s f***ing neck”.
He then called her a “fat cow” and mocked her accent before threatening to set the vehicle on fire despite her protests that this would also set her car on fire to which he replied: “Aww, diddums, it’s worth about three quid.”
He then made threats to kill himself, telling the woman: “I’m dead today.”
Referring to a victim impact statement submitted to the court by the woman, Sheriff Gary Aitken said: “He has ruined her life.”
Solicitor Clare Russell, for Burton, said her client is currently single and already subject to the Caledonian Men’s Programme – aimed at tackling domestic offending – following a previous offence against the same woman.
A ‘particularly bad period’
She said the offences occurred during a “particularly bad period” for the former couple.
She said Burton, of New House Avenue, Dunbar, had “his own trauma” which he was now seeking to address.
Placing Burton on a community payback order requiring him to complete 300 hours of unpaid work in the community, Sheriff Aitken said: “These were appalling offences.
“Your own background, your substance abuse, however peaky you were feeling at the time, are no excuse”
He also made a non-harassment order preventing Burton from approaching or contacting the woman for three years.
