A HADDINGTON man has been ordered to be of good behaviour for six months following a court appearance where he admitted assaulting his long-term partner.

John Flockhart was socialising and drinking alcohol at his home with his partner and a friend when he became aggressive towards the woman.

His partner had left the property to walk the couple’s dog at about 9.30pm on October 15 last year but was confronted by Flockhart when she returned 45 minutes later.

Flockhart, 45, demanded to know where she had been for that length of time and the woman was said to have attempted to walk away from the situation by going into the garden.

Flockhart followed her and “seized her by the hood of her jacket and began to pull her back into the house” at the couple’s home at Oak Tree View, Haddington.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that the woman then fell to the floor and Flockhart “continued to pull her” along the ground.

A member of the public heard the commotion, and the woman’s shouts for help, and phoned the police to alert them to the situation.

'A big boy now'

The court was told that the victim did not want a non-harassment order to be imposed and the Crown was not seeking one as part of the sentencing.

Flockhart’s lawyer Angela Craig said that her client and the woman had been in a relationship for 10 years and the couple had one child together.

Ms Craig said that the couple “continue to live together as a family” and unemployed Flockhart had had no criminal convictions since 2014.

The solicitor added that a family bereavement had seen her client turn to drinking whisky as a means of “drowning the memories out” but that recently he had been in contact with his GP in an attempt to curb his intake.

Ms Craig said: “He and [his partner] are intent on living peacefully together in the future.”

Sheriff Frank Crowe said: “You are a big boy now and we don’t really want to see you back here.

“Looking at your record, I see you have been in bother in the past. I want you to move on.”

Sheriff Crowe agreed to defer sentence for six months for Flockhart to be of good behaviour.

Flockhart pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner at an address at Oak Tree View, Haddington, on October 15 last year.