A Fort William woman who tried to stab her husband with a knife and slapped him on the face “about 12 times” appeared at the town’s sheriff court yesterday.
Heather MacLeod, of Glen Nevis Place, pleaded guilty to assaulting her husband at their home address by lunging at him with a knife and attempting to stab him.
She also admitted a second charge of striking him on the head at an address in the town’s Achintore Road.
The incident happened on September 15 last year and the court heard that the 52-year-old told police: “I’m going to stab him.”
Depute procurator fiscal, Martina Eastwood, said: “Her husband was asleep when he was woken at 6am by his wife shouting and screaming at him.
“An argument ensued which ended up in the kitchen and the accused grabbed a bread knife.
“Her husband managed to take it from her, but ended up cutting his finger.
“His wife calmed down, so he left the house and went to have a drink in a pub in the High Street. He later received a text from his wife to say she was at a friend’s house, but when he arrived he wasn’t there.
“He stayed on and later there was banging on the door and she barged into the hallway. The owner of the property said she hit her husband about 12 times on the face so phoned the police.
“When they arrived she said: ‘I’m going to stab him. I tried to stab him this morning’.”
Her solicitor, Hamish Melrose, said MacLeod’s husband now lives on Skye and had sent a letter to the court.
He added: “She was severely depressed and had to leave her job as a carer.
“She accepts it is a serious charge and her behaviour was very unusual.
“She and her husband want to resume their relationship, but have complied with the bail conditions.”
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald imposed a community payback order of 100 hours on the Fort William woman and told her the unpaid work has to be completed within six months.
She was admonished on the second charge.