Nine-month jail sentence for Islay assault

A man who failed to appear at Campbeltown Sheriff Court to be sentenced for assaulting a woman on Islay has been jailed for nine months. James Gillies, 23, of 21 Wallbrae Road, Carbrain, Cumbernauld, pleaded guilty to failing to appear in court on September 20 last year without reasonable excuse.

Kicking her

He faced sentencing for assaulting the woman at an Islay address on July 2 by kicking her on the head and striking her on the body with a glass bottle or similar object while on bail, as well as behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting and swearing. His defence solicitor Ruben Murdanaigum told the court that Gillies had been arrested on September 19 and appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court the day he should have been in Campbeltown. Mr Murdanaigum said that Gillies ‘deeply regrets’ that he did not inform authorities that he should have been at court in Campbeltown but was ‘very concerned’ about the matter in Falkirk. He continued: ‘It could be seen as a reasonable excuse but he knew the date and he knew he should have been here.’ Sentencing Gillies to nine months imprisonment for the assault, Sheriff Patrick Hughes said: ‘These are serious offences – you have a record of violent offences against women and of committing offences while on bail.’ Sheriff Hughes also imposed a two-month prison sentence for his failure to appear in September, to be served concurrently.