A CLACKMANNAN man has been given a community payback order after carrying out a ‘nasty’ attack on a woman in her home.

Derek Paterson (35), pleaded guilty to assaulting his ‘on and off’ partner at her Clackmannan home on 12 July 2014.

He appeared before Alloa Sheriff Court on Thursday (4 December) where the court heard he subjected the woman to verbal abuse before ransacking her bedroom and pushing her head against a wall.

Paterson also admitted to striking her on her leg with a wooden log, despite the fact her ankle was in plaster at the time.

Depute fiscal Marie-Claire Chaffey told the court said: “At 11pm on the day liabled, the complainer returned home to find the accused lying in her driveway.

“She assumed he was drunk, but he then stood up and seemed to be fine. She allowed him entry to her home and she went off to the toilet.

“When she came back into the living room, the accused starting shouting before throwing the couch across the room.

“He then walked into the complainer’s bedroom and began to go through her underwear drawer before tossing the contents all over the room. He then emptied the contents of her make-up box over her bed.” Ms Chaffey then said Paterson continued to shout insults at her, calling her a “fat tramp and a fat slag”.

He then seized hold of her and tried to pull her out of the house and as the struggle ensued, he pushed her head against the roughcast wall on the outside of her home.

After that Paterson then tried to punch the woman on the head, before picking up a log and hitting her on her lower leg.

Ms Chaffey added: “She was in fear that she would be assaulted again and walked back into the house. She saw the accused coming back for her and she slammed the door.

“At that point she heard the accused screaming and when she opened the door she saw his finger had been caught in the door and was now bleeding.

“He then placed his other hand on her upper and pushed her against a wall.

“After releasing her, he then lay back down in the drive way and started to laugh.” The court also heard that as a result of the attack, the woman suffered bruising from her left ankle to her left knee, bruising on her temple and scratches to her chest, neck and left ear.

Claire McCarron, defending, said: “He accepts this is an extremely serious matter and would have been very nasty and frightening for the complainer.

“There had been a casual relationship between the two parties and it is Mr Paterson’s position that an aggressive argument took place between them.

“He does not have a complete memory of the incident due the amount of alcohol he consumed, but he accepts that he lost his temper.

“Violence is completely out of character for Mr Paterson who has no previous convictions for violence or disorder.

“He has been in employment since leaving school and has only ever appeared in court once before. That was earlier this year and it was for a road traffic offence.

“He is very remorseful for his part in the incident and poses a very low risk of offending again.” Sheriff Raymond McMenamin dismissed the effect of alcohol as a mitigating factor and described Paterson’s actions as ‘appalling’.

He said: “It is no excuse to say you were inebriated and, indeed, it seems you set out to get yourself drunk that evening, considering how much you had consumed.

“Given the nature of this, ordinarily, I would have no problem sending you to jail. But, and this is a direct alternative to custody, I will issue a community payback order.

“You will be given a supervision order for 12 months and will have to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work over the next six months. This is reduced from 240 hours due to the timing of your plea.

“You will also pay a compensation order to the complainer of £1,000, payable at £30 a week.” He added: “Mr Paterson, your behaviour on this night was appalling – there is no other word for it.

“I can only hope this was a one-off offence and whatever led you to this behaviour, you must ensure that it does not happen again.”