Nairn man avoids custody after admitting violent abuse
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A sheriff told a Nairn man his violent abuse against a woman was concerning in someone so young.
Fabian Mattis (20) appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting an abusive course of conduct against the woman that included seizing her by the neck and compressing her breathing.
Sheriff Sara Matheson said: "What we effectively have is a strangling."
Mattis, of Seaforth Road, admitted that between May 1 and September 17 last year he engaged in "a course of conduct that was abusive" of the woman.
The charge narrates that at an address in Rosehaugh Road, Inverness, he shouted and swore at her, pushed her and placed his hands around her neck and "did compress her breathing."
Fiscal depute Victoria Silva told the court that the woman struggled to get away from Mattis but it was only when she kicked him between the legs that he let go of her.
She then phoned a friend and said Mattis had "tried to strangle" her.
Miss Silva said that later Mattis refused to let her into the property, grabbed her by the body and threw her to the floor to her injury.
And on another occasion he pushed her, causing her to fall on a coffee table to her injury.
Defence solicitor David Patterson said Mattis was no longer in touch with the woman, adding: "He has learned his lesson."
He urged Sheriff Matheson to impose some form of supervision order on Mattis such as the Caledonian Men's Programme, but he agreed with the sheriff that the threshold for a custody sentence had been passed.
However, Sheriff Matheson said she was persuaded there was an alternative to custody and imposed 250 hours' community payback to be completed within one year and for Mattis to be under the supervision of the men's programme for 24 months.
A 20-month non-harassment order was also imposed in favour of the woman.
The Caledonian Men’s Programme aims to help men stop their abusive behaviour and to make positive changes to their life.
