Judge condemned for letting domestic abuser who bashed wife’s head against floor avoid jail

He admitted punching and kicking his wife, hitting her head against a floor and brandishing a knife at her, and attacking his daughters when they tried to intervene

Maya Oppenheim
Women's Correspondent
Saturday 13 July 2019 16:16 BST
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The case involves a man who pleaded guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in February to three charges involving assaults on his wife and two daughters over a 17-year period
The case involves a man who pleaded guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in February to three charges involving assaults on his wife and two daughters over a 17-year period

Campaigners have condemned a judge’s decision to uphold a sentence which saw a domestic abuser spared a prison sentence.

The lead domestic abuse organisation in Scotland argued Scottish courts are still failing to take domestic abuse seriously after the former fisherman had his “unduly lenient” sentence upheld by appeal judges.

Scottish Women’s Aid argued the punishment would have been very different if the assaults had been committed against someone outside of the home.

The organisation said the case demonstrates the “chasm between rhetoric and practice” in how Scottish courts deal with cases of domestic violence.

The case involves a man who pleaded guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in February to three charges involving assaults on his wife and two daughters over a 17-year period.

He admitted punching and kicking his wife, hitting her head against a floor and brandishing a knife at her, and attacking his daughters when they tried to intervene.

The couple broke up in 2015 and a victim statement revealed she has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the abuse she suffered at his hands.

Marsha Scott, chief executive of Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “Despite the mantra of ‘domestic abuse, there’s no excuse’, sentences like this implicitly invoke every possible excuse.”

She added: “We are extremely frustrated that the courts continue to treat violence that happens within the family less seriously than violence that occurs in every other context.”

Ms Scott argued that while the sentence may have been technically correct, it was neither “fair or just”.

The sheriff imposed a restriction of liberty order – meaning the man must remain in his home between 8pm and 8am for 11 months. He was also given a probation order involving two years’ supervision and 220 hours of community work.

The crown appealed against the sentence, which it deemed to be “unduly lenient”; however, this was refused by a panel of judges led by Lord Justice General Lord Carloway.

Lord Carloway said in a judgment that the sheriff had followed the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guideline that “sentences should be no more severe than is necessary to achieve the appropriate purposes of sentencing in each case”.

The controversy comes after a “groundbreaking” new law came into effect in Scotland in April that makes psychological domestic abuse and controlling behaviour a crime.

The Scottish parliament passed the Domestic Abuse Act in February last year, creating a specific offence of domestic abuse.

The Scottish act covers not just physical abuse, but psychological and emotional treatment and coercive and controlling behaviour, where abusers isolate their victim from their friends and relatives or control their finances.

It covers the full breadth of violent, threatening, intimidating and other controlling behaviour which can destroy a victim’s autonomy and further recognises the adverse impact domestic abuse can have on children.

Until the new legislation, the law in Scotland provided for prosecution of only the physical aspects of domestic abuse. Law enforcement officials say the new law makes it clear that coercive and controlling behaviour is a crime.

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