A COUNTY man who breached a court-imposed non-harassment order just seconds after he was released from custody at HMP Edinburgh has been given another jail sentence.

James Laidlaw was sent to prison in December after admitting a domestic abuse charge and was also handed a non-harassment order banning him from having any contact with his victim.

But upon his early release in February, Laidlaw, from Musselburgh, was met at the gates of the prison by the woman and ended up going back to her home to stay the weekend.

The couple then argued over the next couple of days, leading the woman to phone the police to report Laidlaw and he was arrested for breaching the terms of the order.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that Laidlaw, 50, was jailed for the domestic abuse charge on December 18 last year and made subject to the 12-month non-harassment order.

He was granted early release on February 2, where he was “met by [the woman]” at the prison gates and he had asked to stay with her as he had nowhere else to go.

The court heard that there were “a number of minor arguments” between the couple over the course of the weekend and she had asked him to leave the property in the Granton area of Edinburgh.

Laidlaw refused and told her to call the police to report him, and she subsequently dialled 999 to do so just four days after he had been released from custody.

Officers arrived at the property shortly afterwards to find Laidlaw, a father of four, in the common stair of the block of flats and he was arrested.

'He should have known better'

Liam Kildare, representing Laidlaw, told the court that his client had breached the order “the minute he was released from prison” by meeting the woman at the prison gates at about 10am on February 6.

Mr Kildare told the court that there was “no blame” being put on the woman, and Laidlaw had asked her if he could stay with her over the weekend as he was “going to present himself as homeless”.

The lawyer said: “He was going to stay with [the woman] until he got back on his feet.”

The court heard that the couple rowed due to “issues with alcohol” and the woman had telephoned her daughter during one argument so she could hear what was going on and the police were then contacted.

Mr Kildare added: “He should have known better to have contact with [the woman] but there was an offer of assistance.”

The court heard that Laidlaw intended to return to the East Lothian area and would be contacting the local authority’s homeless unit for assistance with his living arrangements when released from custody.

Laidlaw has been on remand since the incident and appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to breaching the non-harassment order between February 2 and 6.

Sheriff Julius Komorowski sentenced Laidlaw to a total of 152 days in jail, which included 72 days from the previous sentence he was released early from.