Wick woman slapped ex after feeling intimidated by him, court told
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The woman received an absolute discharge after the sheriff sympathised with her position.
Amanda Munro (49) faced a charged of assault at Wick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
However, after hearing details of the incident at The Crown Bar, Sheriff Neil Kinnear granted an absolute discharge, allowing Munro to leave court without a stain on her character.
The court was told Munro and her partner had parted company after a 20-year relationship before Munro enjoyed a night out in the town centre bar, on January 23.
Fiscal David Barclay said that Munro's ex entered the bar and said something to her as he passed her.
He was subject to a court order at the time, with a condition not to have any contact with Munro.
A short time later he again passed close to Munro and it "appeared to be deliberate" the court was told.
Mr Barclay said that when her ex came close to Munro on the second occasion he leaned towards her and "made some sort of adverse comment."
At that point she felt threatened and slapped him in order to get him to move away.
Solicitor Josey Donnachie said Munro had taken responsibility for her actions and was very apologetic.
She said the accused had pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of assault, and appealed to Sheriff Kinnear to consider an absolute discharge.
"This is the first time that my client has had any dealings with the police, the court, and the justice system," she said.
Sheriff Kinnear revealed he had never imposed a sentence of an absolute discharge before but took into account the fact Munro's ex should not have been approaching her in the first place and that there could be consequences for her employment.
The sheriff said he had read a letter from the accused's employers which indicated she was "a valued employee".
He told Munro, of Pilot Row, Papigoe: "I think you probably realise that what you did was not the correct way to have dealt with this, but as the fiscal has indicated it is easy in hindsight as opposed to the heat of the moment."
An absolute discharge means the offence is not recorded as a conviction, so Munro does not have an offending record.
