Thug given last chance to carry out unpaid work

Yob who bit girlfriend’s nose didn’t complete hours

A violent thug who bit his girlfriend’s nose has once again been spared jail - despite failing to complete a court order.

Yob Stephen Monaghan was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work for savagely attacking his partner Sharon Edgar – or face prison.

However, when he appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court it was revealed he had only completed just half of the hours in the six months allowed.

After previously hearing how Monaghan brutally threw Ms Edgar against a wall several times, before laying into her with punches and savagely biting her on the nose, Sheriff Susan Sinclair imposed a Community Payback Order.

But she warned him: “If you break these conditions I will send you to prison.”

The court was previously told how the couple had been on a night out with friends on October 25, 2014, when a drunken bust up started.

Edgar tried to leave the house but Monaghan pulled her back by the hair before pinning her to the couch and punching her repeatedly in the face.

She screamed “help me” and “why did you did you hit me in the face? You’ve broken my nose,” during the attack.

Neighbours came down to the flat after hearing the shouting and were met by a sobbing Edgar, who was covered in blood and in her bare feet.

Monaghan is said to have told the neighbours at the time: “I admit it, I did hit her.”

When the 32-year-old returned to court on Friday, his defence agent claimed he had failed to prioritise the unpaid work over other commitments and that he and Ms Edgar had had a second child together since the incident.

The lawyer said: “He assures me he will now prioritise the unpaid work he has been ordered to carry out if any new order is imposed,”

Sheriff Susan Sinclair told Monaghan, of Johnstone’s Maple Drive, that she believed any other punishment would impact on the whole family and decided to impose a fresh order.

She said: “The alternatives I could impose, including prison, could punish the exact people that this offence was committed against.”

She ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work within six months