A MACMERRY man has been banned from contacting his former partner for five years and told he must pay compensation for a shocking assault on her involving a beer can.

Alexander Irvine attacked the woman by kicking her to the head and body whereby she fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

Irvine, 32, then struck the prone woman with a beer can, causing a serious injury to her head that needed to be treated with six stitches after she had been taken to hospital.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the attack took place at an address at Queen’s Avenue in Haddington on November 13, 2022.

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Irvine pleaded guilty to an amended charge of assault on indictment at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year and he returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday.

Prosecutors agreed to delete the terms 'repeatedly strike her in the body', 'repeatedly stamp on her head' and 'repeatedly kick her on the head' from the charge.

Sheriff Alistair Noble spared Irvine a custodial sentence for the attack and instead handed out a strenuous community-based order.

Irvine was placed under the supervision of the local social work department for the next 12 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.

He was also told to pay a compensation order of £1,500 and was given a non-harassment order banning him from having any contact with the woman for the next five years.

Irvine pleaded guilty to an amended charge of assaulting his former partner at a property on Queens Avenue in Haddington on November 13, 2022.

The offence was committed while Irvine, of Brierbush Road, Macmerry, had previously been granted bail at the same court on March 21, 2022.

The offence was prosecuted under Section 1 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 and was aggravated by the abuse of his partner.