FIFE MAN'S ASSAULT SENTENCE REDUCED AFTER LEGAL APPEAL
A Fife man convicted of repeatedly assaulting his partner over a four-year period has had his sentence reduced following an appeal.The appellate court found insufficient evidence to support many of the woman's allegations, including claims that he kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant.
The court noted that six of her accusations in one of the charges lacked corroboration, which meant Rob Spinks, who denied all accusations, could only be convicted of two assaults instead of eight.
The judges stated that both the original sheriff and a subsequent sheriff appeal court had made errors.
As a result, Spinks' original sentence—comprising 300 hours of unpaid work and two years of supervision—was reduced to 100 hours with no supervision order.
He was convicted in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on August 17 of last year.
The charges included a stalking offense, which was not subject to appeal, involving repeated attempts to contact the woman, shouting, swearing, and stepping into a vehicle's path.
The second charge was for multiple assaults over several years, including punching her head, choking her, pinning her down, spitting in her face, hitting her head against a wall, and kicking her while she was pregnant.
Spinks admitted to punching her on one occasion and a neighbour testified to witnessing him spit at her.
Due to lack of corroborative evidence, the appellate court ruled that only two incidents—one in 2015 and another on March 27, 2017—could be conclusively linked to Spinks, and his conviction was accordingly limited to these.
The court emphasized that conviction based solely on a single witness’s testimony is unlawful without corroborative evidence, reaffirming the evidence's credibility and reliability as insufficient for the full set of charges.
