Serial domestic abuser jailed

A former soldier has been jailed after admitting the latest in a string of domestic abuse charges.

David Langton pushed two people, including his wife, from a Perth property following a drunken row.

Depute fiscal Bill Kermode said Langton had sent Rosemary Langton a message claiming he wanted a divorce, which she had ignored, assuming he was drunk.

When the 53-year-old returned home the row escalated and he demanded that she leave the property.

He said another man in the house, Daniel Devlin, had initially refused to leave the property.

After being assaulted, the pair fled to a neighbour’s house and called the police.

Langton later contacted his wife despite a court order banning him from doing so.

Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said there was evidence that his client had suffered from combat stress from his time as a soldier.

Langton, of Hawthorn Place, Perth, admitted assaulting Mr Devlin and Mrs Langton at his home address on November 2 last year.

He further admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner towards the pair.

He also pled guilty to a charge of breaching bail by contacting Mrs Langton on November 16.

Noting Langton’s “appalling” record, Sheriff Gillian Wade jailed him for 10 months.