A RENTON man who spat on his partner in an attack on her at their home has been given a court's lightest possible punishment.

Michael Tait spat on the woman's head, pushed her on the body and poured cold water on her in the assault at their home in Tontine Park on August 14 last year.

Tait, 30, was sentenced at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a charge of assault at an earlier hearing on September 19.

Stephen McGuire, defending, said: "He has been of good behaviour [since then] and remains in a relationship with the complainer.

"He accepted at the first opportunity that his behaviour was entirely unacceptable, and he tells me that everything is absolutely fine between them now."

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Tait: "You know you did the wrong thing on August 14 – not only was it morally the wrong thing, but it was a criminal act.

"However, you have no previous convictions and you have behaved yourself since.

"On a once, and once only, basis you are admonished today – that is the least penalty the court can impose, but it does constitute a criminal record."