JOHNSTONE THUG "IN THE HABIT OF HITTING WOMEN" AVOIDS JAIL
A violent thug who bit his partner's nose in a drunken attack at their Johnstone home has been spared jail.Steven Monaghan battered Sharon Edgar at their Maple Drive home after they'd spent the night in a pub celebrating a friend's birthday.
The details emerged this week when Monaghan, 31, appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to be sentenced over the October 25, 2014 attack.
Procurator fiscal depute Lauren McGonigal said both Ms Edgar and Monaghan "were heavily intoxicated" and began arguing after arriving home in the early hours of the morning.
She explained: "The complainer tried to leave the living room and as she did the accused grabbed her by the hair, pulling it and throwing her against a wall a number of times.
She was crying and shouting for help, he then pinned her on to the couch and bit her to the nose, causing it to bleed.
Thereafter he started to punch her numerous times to the head and the side of her face." Neighbours could hear her shouting, 'Why'd you try to hit me?
Why'd you break my nose?' She was shouting, 'Someone help me and phone the police'.
The neighbour did contact the police.
Shouting could then be heard coming from the common close, with Monaghan shouting, "I admit it, I hit her!" Ms Edgar was spotted leaving the building in just her bare feet and went to her friend's home nearby.
She was noted to have blood on her face and hands, was crying hysterically, had a swollen face and a mark on her nose.
She was taken to hospital where she received treatment for her bite wound before being released.
Later that morning Monaghan attended Paisley police office, handed himself and admitted assaulting his partner.
He later pleaded guilty to assaulting her and was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.
When he returned to the dock on Tuesday defence solicitor Philip Rooney said Monaghan and Ms Edgar had been together for 12 years.
He said they were still together and handed Sheriff Susan Sinclair a letter Ms Edgar had written.
The lawyer asked for Sheriff Sinclair to spare his client jail, saying that would mean he would lose his job and that would have an affect on the family.
She said: "This is a serious matter and a serious charge.
If he spends any longer in custody he'll lose his job.
She wants him back from an emotional point of view." After noting that Monaghan had a previous domestic abuse conviction relating to another partner, Sheriff Sinclair said it showed he was "in the habit of hitting women." But she decided she could deal with him without having to send him to jail and placed him on a Community Payback Order as a direct alternative to custody, requiring him to complete 200 hours' unpaid work over six months and be supervised by social workers for a year to receive alcohol counselling.
