Inverness man threatens to kill ‘love of his life’
A 22-year-old Inverness man who threatened to kill "the love of his life" and called her a cheating cow is facing a jail sentence.
Scott Smith, who was described as an Inverness prisoner, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted a total of seven charges, comprising three of abusive and threatening behaviour towards his ex-partner, conducting a campaign of domestic abuse and three breaches of bail by contacting the woman between March and August last year.
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Smith, who was represented by solicitor advocate Shahid Latif, wrote a letter to Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald which the lawyer said eloquently put his client's position better than he could in a plea of mitigation.
In it, Smith described the woman as "the love of his life" but Sheriff Macdonald criticised him for his behaviour towards her, describing it as "awful", adding: "I consider these offences are very serious and carried out over a period of time when you were threatening and abusive. It was completely and utterly unacceptable."
She deferred sentence on him for a background report until April 8 and again remanded him in custody.
Mr Latif blamed Smith's criminal father for following in his footsteps: "What kept him on the straight and narrow was protecting his mother, but she passed away. Everyone knows the shadow being cast by his father on him."
He added that his client now accepted the relationship was over.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that in the early hours of March 2 last year, Smith went to the woman's home in Inverness and began banging on the windows.
"He was threatening to kill her and calling her a cheating cow."
Ms Hood said Smith left the property but returned, smashed a kitchen window, threatening to kill anyone who was in the property and climbed in as the frightened woman fled out the front door.
"The following month she got text messages calling her a grass and a cheat and 93 calls from a withheld number. She answered one and he told her: 'All your windows are getting put in. I am going to punch you on the face and drag you along the ground',“ Ms Hood went on.
The court heard Smith sent one apology but then his jealous and angry behaviour continued for several weeks with an early morning incident on May 17 when he appeared outside her home and accused her of being with someone else.
On August 8, Ms Hood added, Smith turned up at her mother's home shouting at his ex-partner: "I am going to take the head off you and set fire to your mother's house. He repeated the threat later that day and called his ex ‘a slut’.”
