Laurieson lout told police he pushed ex partner onto concrete ground in 'self defence'

Richard Templeton, 38, refused to leave when his ex told him to and things got violent, with the women ending up lying injured on the ground outside her home.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Richard Templeton, 38, had pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman – pushing her and causing her to fall to her injury – at an address in Livingstone Drive, Laurieston on October 11.

Ann Orr, procurator fiscal depute, said: “The accused had attended at the address. He had come in and spoken to his former partner. She wished him to leave and told him this.

"She was standing at the front door with the door open, telling him to leave. He then seized hold of her and dragged her outside. He pushed her, causing her to fall onto the concrete path and bang her head and elbows on the ground.

"She then ran back into the property and called the police. Officer arrived but by that time the accused had left. Another person stated to police he had just seen the accused who had told him he had pushed a woman.

"The accused was traced and told police ‘she grabbed my face and scratched it, so I pushed her away in self defence’. Officers noted there was scratch on his face.”

Defence solicitor Martin Morrow said: “They are both quite keen to return to the relationship. He is not someone who is regularly before the court, but he does appear periodically and matters are domestic in nature.

"Both parties had suffered bereavements and that wasn’t being handled very well by either party. Things got out of hand on that particular occasion and at some point he seems to have been scratched on the face.”

Templeton, 273 Grahamsdyke Street, Laurieston, was said to suffer from a number of medical issues including arthritis.

Sheriff Craig Harris placed him on a supervised community payback order for 12 months with the condition he completes 70 hours of unpaid work within six months.