BRUTE JAILED AT PAISLEY SHERIFF COURT FOR SUBJECTING PARTNER TO YEARS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE
A thug who racially abused his girlfriend has been jailed over a four-and-a-half year campaign of domestic abuse.Cruel Kenneth Macmillan, 41, was locked up for repeatedly assaulting Shiree Afzal, calling her "fat and ugly" and branding her "a stupid p***" during their relationship.
He attacked the 26-year-old in front of friends on Hogmanay and bombarded her with messages after they'd split up.
The offences were committed at properties in Paisley, Erskine and Dundee between May 2010 and September 2014.
And he was given 20 months behind bars for the offences at Paisley Sheriff Court after Sheriff Colin Pettigrew ruled it was the only "appropriate disposal." The sheriff slammed him for his "repeated physical, verbal and psychological abuse" of Afzal, branding his treatment of her "appalling." Macmillan, of Craigowan Road, Dundee, was originally facing trial on 17 domestic abuse charges.
He accepted his guilt to seven of the charges while prosecutors agreed to drop the ten others.
He admitted assaulting Afzal, threatening her, bombarding her with messages, and breaking his bail conditions by contacting her.
The court heard the couple met on an internet dating site in November 2008 and moved in together in 2009.
Macmillan left his home in Dundee to move in with Afzal at a property in Paisley's Lochinver Crescent.
And by the time May 2010 came around, Macmillan was regularly assaulting his partner.
He repeatedly grabbed her by the arms, pushed her and slapped her on the head and, on Hogmanay 2010, slapped her, grabbed her and threw her against a wall while friends of the couple looked on.
The Hogmanay assault began when he was lying on their bed and she came in and lay beside him.
Macmillan launched into a barrage of abuse at Afzal, telling her: "I don't love you, you're ugly." He then branded her "fat and ugly" and told her she was "a stupid p***." In March 2011 he racially abused Afzal again and also directed his bigoted abuse towards her sister.
In August 2012 he grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against their bedroom wall and threatened to kill her.
In November 2012 Afzal moved to a house in Erskine and Macmillan returned to live in Dundee but the abuse towards her continued.
He inundated her with abusive texts and Facebook messages.
Sentence was deferred for Macmillan to be assessed by social workers and he returned to the dock last week.
Defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh said Macmillan had shown insight into his disgraceful treatment of Afzal and said he accepted he needed help on how he should behave whilst in "an intimate relationship." The lawyer added: "He regrets his conduct and is remorseful.
He accepts he was childish and his behaviour was completely unacceptable." He asked for leniency for his client, saying a Community Payback Order would allow him to continue to see the children he has with Afzal and that unpaid work would help him repay society for his wrongs.
And he said that the case had caused problems for his client as well, with the anxiety of a potential jail term leading to eating and sleeping problems, and the prospect of custody had filling him "with dread and fear." But Sheriff Pettigrew jailed him for 20 months.
