Man admits drunken assault on his wife

A man who drunkenly assaulted his wife while she was tending to their young child had sentence deferred when he appeared from the cells at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Monday.

Linas Aleksandravicius, 27, of Cheyne Crescent, Lerwick, pleaded guilty to the assault in what procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie described as a “drink-fuelled domestic incident”, which took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The fiscal said that when Aleksandravicius’s partner arrived at their home she found him in an “aggressive” mood. While she was in the bedroom feeding their baby, which had been crying, he continued to behave aggressively towards her and when she told him to quieten down for the sake of the child he responded by punching her on the nose.

She shouted for help from friends who were in the living room and they managed to intervene and calm the situation down until the police arrived and arrested him, since when he had remained in custody.

Sheriff Graeme Napier said that taking into account the nature of his previous convictions – which include drink-driving and shooting an air rifle at a target in a residential area – as well as the involvement of alcohol and Aleksandravicius’s evident “complete disrespect of your wife”, it was clear that he had issues which needed to be addressed.

The sheriff granted the him bail on the special conditions that he does not approach his wife and stays with a cousin in the town while social inquiry and community service reports are compiled. Aleksandravicius, who was told any breach of the conditions would leave him liable to up to a year behind bars, will be back in court again on 11th March.