Man assaulted wife in pub
A Stranraer man whose life unravelled after he was diagnosed with a debilitating illness appeared for sentencing this week at Stranraer Sheriff Court after he assaulted his wife.
Michael Lindsay, 47, 53 Fisher Street, admitted assaulting Elizabeth Lindsay in the Buck’s Head in Stranraer on August 19 by seizing her fingers and bending them back to her injury. He also admitted refusing to leave the pub when asked to do so and resisting police officers trying to handcuff him in Hanover Street that day.
Depute fiscal Kay Christie said the accused has been drinking in the Buck’s Head since 11.30am that day and had become increasingly obnoxious to both his wife and the customers in the pub. After he reached over the bar and assaulted her, she called the police for assistance.
The accused’s agent, Paul Feeney, said that Lindsay was now on the Caledonian programme that deals with domestic violence. He explained that Lindsay’s wife was the licensee of the pub and the accused spent most of his time there as his wife was also his carer. He had to give up work due to his illness and often consoled himself with alcohol.
The solicitor said that Lindsay has recently been told by his GP there was no cure for his problems and that he would have to “learn to live with it” – news he found “devastating”, added Mr Feeney. The accused’s wife had told Mr Feeney that as her husband’s bail order banned him from entering the pub, this created more problems than it solved as his wife had now to return home regularly to check on him. The lawyer commented there had been a “drink element” involved in the accused’s recent offending.
Sheriff Ian Fleming told Lindsay that, while the court had sympathy for his predicament, he added that other people had also to be considered “other than you”.
He deferred sentence until October 9 to allow for reports to be compiled on the accused, including from the Caledonian programme. He also altered Lindsay’s bail conditions to allow him to go to into the Buck’s Head but he must not drink alcohol.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Newton Stewart
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 29 mph
Wind direction: North west
