A MAN has been barred from having any form of contact with his ex for a violent attack on her at the home they previously shared in Bellsmyre.

Edward Morrison violently attacked his former partner by striking her on the head, dragging her from a bed, seizing her by the throat and pinning her down in the attack on May 7.

He was granted bail after pleading guilty to a charge of assault two days later.

But then on June 5 the 44-year-old went back to the same flat and carried out another attack – this time on the property itself, by striking windows with a cast-iron gate, garden furniture and a tin of paint, and hitting and kicking a glass-panelled door.

In addition, by simply going to the property on June 5, Morrison breached a special condition of bail.

Dealing first with the May incident, fiscal depute Meghan Glancey told Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday: “The complainer was in bed when the accused returned home drunk.

“She asked him to sleep on the couch, but he took umbrage at this and began to punch the complainer to the face a number of times, causing her nose to bleed.

“The accused dragged the complainer from her bed while screaming ‘who do you think you are, this is my house’.

“He then grabbed the complainer by the throat and pinned her against a chest of drawers.

“She managed to escape his grasp and contacted police.”

Morrison’s lawyer, Anne Lambie, said: “He was struggling to accept the breakdown of the relationship.

“On the second matter he had been out with a friend, and they went past the complainer’s property. He saw her sitting inside, completely innocently, and behaved totally irrationally.

“It’s clear he has issues with alcohol – he has no recollection of event in the principal matter – but he is engaging with West Dunbartonshire addiction services.

“As a consequence of this the relationship is at an end.

“He is well aware a custodial sentence could be imposed but I think there would be a focus for a community payback order.”

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry agreed and made Morrison, who is currently living in King Edward Street in Alexandria, the subject of a community payback order for the May offence.

He will be under social workers’ supervision for the next two years, and will also have to carry out a punishment of 180 hours’ unpaid work within nine months.

He was handed a non-harassment order under which he is not allowed to even attempt to contact the woman for the next five years.

Sheriff Hendry told Morrison: “With hesitation I will not send you to prison today, but it wouldn’t take much more to tip the balance towards a custodial sentence.”