Man avoids jail for choking partner

A Dunfermline man who committed a “truly horrific assault” on his partner has avoided a jail term.

Mark Reid punched the woman and choked her during a terrifying ordeal.

He struggled with her while she held a baby and then kicked at a bathroom door after she locked herself inside.

Reid, 22, of Whitelaw Road, admitted assaulting his partner by seizing hold of her by the body, repeatedly placing his hands around her neck and compressing it at his home on September 2.

He punched her on the head, causing her to fall and strike her head against a wall, pursued her, seized hold of her, pulled her to the ground and sat astride her, all to her injury.

He also admitted shouting, swearing, acting in an aggressive manner towards his partner, taking a mobile phone from her, throwing it to the ground causing it to break, struggling with her while she was holding a baby, pursuing her when she locked herself in a bathroom and repeatedly kicking the door, causing damage to the frame.

Sheriff Charles MacNair said: “This was a truly horrific assault on your partner. Compressing someone’s neck is extremely serious and can result in a fatality. On one view such an offence can be viewed as an attempted murder.”

The sheriff imposed a community payback order with three years’ supervision and 300 hours of unpaid work.