2 weeks Ago
Such was the brutality of the attacks, Sheriff Peter Paterson said he had considered referring the case to the High Court which has tougher sentencing powers. Thomas Kerr, described as a prisoner but from Newarthill in Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty on indictment to four charges. He was sentenced to six months in prison for threatening or abusive behaviour towards a woman at properties in Peebles and Musselburgh between March 1 and July 7 last year.
Kerr was verbally abusive towards the woman when she refused to buy him alcohol, and uttered threats to kill and petrol bomb her house. The charge also included that he forced her to buy him alcohol and would not leave her home until she did so. It also said he then made threats to coerce her to drive him away from the property after he assaulted her and made threats of further violence if she resisted.
Kerr received a 15-month jail sentence for assaulting the woman at an address in Peebles by repeatedly striking her on the head in the presence of a child. At an address in Musselburgh, Kerr assaulted the same woman by following her into a bedroom while in possession of a knife, repeatedly striking the door with it. The court heard he also stamped on her head until she was unconscious to her severe injury for which he received another 15 months.
Kerr received another 15 months for assaulting another woman at a house in Peebles on June 17 last year by kicking her on the body and striking her on the head with a metal object to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement. Sheriff Paterson ordered that all the jail sentences be consecutive which meant they totalled 54 months. In addition, a non-harassment order was imposed which banned Kerr from having any contact with both women for the next five years.
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