Durness man 'went berserk' on two occasions Dornoch Sheriff Court told

A 26-YEAR-OLD man went “berserk” on two occasions in the space of four months, Dornoch Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

In the first episode, on 31st August last year, Peter Murfin seized his girlfriend, Emily Wilson, round the neck so hard she had difficulty breathing.

He flipped again on 3rd January this year, struggling with Miss Wilson and smashing two chairs in the conservatory at their home address, Camrae, 8 Balvoolich, Durness.

Murfin admitted one charge of assault and another of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner when he appeared at court on Monday.

The second offence was committed whilst he was still on bail in relation to the assault charge.

The court was told that the August incident happened after Miss Wilson returned home from the pub having consumed a fair amount of alcohol.

“There seems to have been a slight disagreement and the accused went off to bed,” said procurator fiscal Roderick Urquhart.

“Some time later Miss Wilson retired to bed and tried to cuddle up to the accused. She says that he then ‘went berserk’.

“He turned round and seized her by the neck until she was short of breath. There was a brief exchange and he left.”

Police were called and the officers who attended saw a slight redness to her neck.

When the accused was traced, he said that he had not placed his hands on her neck but on her chest in order to calm her down. He denied squeezing her throat.

The second incident followed much the same pattern as the first, according to the fiscal.

Murfin and Miss Wilson were drinking with friends on the evening of 3rd January and Murfin was the first to go to bed.

Mr Urquhart said: “Murfin was not best pleased when Miss Wilson got into bed around 1.30am. He told her to ‘**** off’.

“She asked what the problem was and he replied: ‘There is always an issue when you consume alcohol’. She then went downstairs and sometime later asked him to leave the property.

“He again went ballistic, jumped out of bed, went into the conservatory and smashed two chairs, swinging them about and smashing them on the floor. There was something of a struggle and police were called.”

Defence agent Neil Wilson said his client was a first offender who had made a full confession to police.

“Perhaps the most telling part of the exchange between himself and police is when he was asked if he regretted his actions. He replied: ‘Yes, absolutely; 110 per cent’” said the lawyer.

“When drink is consumed, unfortunate things happen and Mr Murfin accepts responsibility for his part in that. He found himself in a relationship for which he was ill equipped to cope. He has realised he is better off away from this relationship.

“As soon as these matters are over and done with, it is his intention to leave the area and move back to England and leave these unfortunate episodes behind him.”

Mr Wilson asked Sheriff David Sutherland to give his client a six month deferred sentence for good behaviour.

But Sheriff Sutherland had other ideas and imposed a Community Payback Order with the conditions that Murfin undertake 120 hours unpaid work in a six-month period and also be supervised by social workers for a year.

The sheriff imposed a further condition banning him from his former address at Camrae, 8 Balvoolich, Durness.

• More cases from this week’s Dornoch Sheriff Court in Friday’s Northern Times