Angus man jailed for over a decade of domestic abuse against partners

A domestic abuser found guilty by a jury of subjecting women to more than a decade of sickening violence has been jailed for 26 months.

David Ferguson abducted one of his victims and left her scarred for life and he repeatedly throttled women to the point where they struggled to breathe.

Sheriff Gillian Wade said: "He has been assessed as posing a high risk. Witnesses suggested there was some sort of trigger, but they never knew when the trigger would be.

"This was against a background of a controlling environment and coercive behaviour. There was an undercurrent which from time to time would escalate into violence.

"Clearly this was a very serious matter which spanned a lengthy period of time. The date of the first offence was 1 January 2005 and then spanned a period until 2017.

"It also involved the abuse of three partners, and whilst you do not accept you were to blame for some of the offences, that is not the view the jury took."

Sheriff Wade noted that he had left his first victim with a scar on her lip and she imposed an additional nine month period of supervised release.

Perth Sheriff Court was told the social work report on Ferguson "did not make good reading" as he continued to downplay what he had done to his victims.

The jury found Ferguson, 44, Flairs Avenue, Arbroath, guilty of assaulting Pauline Myles on various occasions between 1 January 2005 and 16 June 2006.

He seized and throttled her and repeatedly punched her head and body to her injury and permanent disfigurement during the numerous incidents in Arbroath.

He was also found guilty of abducting Ms Myles on 10 December 2006 by locking her in a house and then pushing her over and ripping her clothes during a violent struggle.

Ferguson - who was described by his counsel as a model citizen other than being a domestic abuser - was found guilty of injuring Hayley Adams by kicking her head and body between 1 June 2010 and 31 January 2011.

The jury convicted him of attacking her on various occasions between 31 January 2011 and 30 November 2012 by seizing her throat, pulling her hair and punching her head and body.

They also found him guilty of attacking Ms Adams by pushing her onto a bed and forcefully pressing a washing basket down on her face as he rammed her face into the mattress.

Ferguson was also found guilty of assaulting Lynsey Smale by pushing her, seizing her throat, stamping on her and locking her out of her home on various occasions between 1 July 2015 and 15 January 2017.

His agent told the court that Ferguson's offences against his partners took place when he had taken too much to drink and had then lost his temper