An Elgin man has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after admitting to abusing his partner and warned he will be jailed if he does it again.
Wesley Latham, 34, appeared in Elgin Sheriff Court and pled guilty to the assault, which took place in August this year.
Fiscal depute Sharon Ralph said Latham had been in a relationship with his victim for four years and they had been married for two.
“She has two children from a previous relationship who reside with her,” Mrs Ralph explained.
The court heard that at around 9am on August 7, Latham had been lying in bed and had asked “for a cuddle”.
His wife asked him to “wait a minute”, to which Latham bemoaned: “We don’t do anything together anymore”.
‘He was screaming at her to look him in the eye’
Mrs Ralph said the woman had been grieving a family member who had recently died and felt this was a “dig” at her mental state.
The court was told that one of the children woke up to hear the couple arguing and witnessed Latham pacing “back and forth angrily”.
“[Latham] leapt on the bed and pinned her against the headboard,” Mrs Ralph told the court.
“He may have been straddling her, but she can’t remember exactly, but recalls being pinned to the bed.
“He was screaming at her to look him in the eye. She was extremely scared and upset and began having a panic attack.”
Mrs Ralph said the woman was then pulled by her hair from the bed and punched.
“And he continued to shout and scream telling her how pathetic she was,” Mrs Ralph added.
The court heard that the woman called the police once Latham was out of the room and they arrived soon after, but Latham had already left.
‘Not gloating’
Latham’s defence agent Grant Daglish said his client was now back living in the family home and was “mortified” by his actions and was “not gloating”.
Sheriff David Harvie, referring to a previous conviction in 2019, shook his head and asked: “What is the difference between not gloating and being mortified?
“Was he mortified in 2019? It was only four years ago.”
Sheriff Harvie told Latham he was seriously considering custody and that he had a “very thin line” to tread adding: “We are not just talking about 60 days here. It is good that I see you have sat down with the children and explained to them it is no way to behave.
“If you behave that way again in front of them or at all you will be in breach of bail.”
He ordered Latham, of Lochhill, to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work to be completed within six months and placed him under supervision for one year.
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