A man who kicked his partner in the stomach at a Highland farm event has been ordered to complete unpaid work in the community.
Iain MacDonald had been drinking before the incident at an auction party at Daviot Farm, during which he also shouted and swore at the woman.
At a sentencing hearing a sheriff also ordered MacDonald to stay away from his now ex-partner for a year.
MacDonald, 61, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing, having previously admitted a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident, which took place on December 7 2019
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood told the court that the couple went to the event together, but on arrival MacDonald left his partner on her own while he “engaged with other attendees and consumed a quantity of alcohol”.
At one point, the victim saw MacDonald talking to another woman, the fiscal depute told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald.
She said: “That upset her – she made her way to the ladies to compose herself.”
When the woman emerged, she spotted MacDonald outside through a window and raised her hand to wave at him, but he appeared “angry”.
‘A particularly nasty offence’
“He barged into the building and made his way towards her,” Ms Eastwood said.
MacDonald approached the woman in an “aggressive manner” before kicking her to the stomach and causing her to fall to the ground.
“He proceeded to shout and swear at her,” the fiscal depute said.
Solicitor Natalie Paterson, for MacDonald, said her client was “mortified” at his behaviour.
She described the civil engineer as a “hardworking man” and told the sheriff he would be able to pay “a substantial financial penalty”.
But Sheriff MacDonald rejected this suggestion saying: “I don’t think it is very good for people to be able to buy their way out of these situations.”
She told MacDonald: “I find this to be a particularly nasty offence” and placed him on a community payback order requiring him to complete 135 hours of unpaid work in the community.
And she warned him: “If you don’t do it you can be sent to jail instead.”
The sheriff also made MacDonald, of Douglas Drive, Milgavnie, subject to a non-harassment order preventing him from approaching or contacting the woman for one year.