"Everyone in the court has been shocked by what we saw and heard"

Sunday 10 November 2024

A 28-year-old man has narrowly avoided jail after assaulting his partner and threatening to kill her.

Aedan Brian Duncan was sentenced in the Magistrate's Court this week on one count of using threatening or abusive words, and one count of common assault.

Advocate Kate Ridley, prosecuting, told the court that Duncan had gone to a pub quiz with his girlfriend in March.

She described how he had started to raise his voice at the woman, and called her names as they walked.

The advocate said that Duncan pushed the woman, and she pushed him back, and then his arm hit her breast. The pushing and striking of her breast constituted the assault offence.

The court was shown CCTV of the street where the pair were walking, and heard an audio recording the woman made on her phone in which Duncan threatened the woman and called her derogatory names.

He was heard shouting and saying: "I will kill you", as the woman cried and pleaded for him to stop.

The woman called the police, and a recording of this call was played in court.

After he was arrested, Duncan continued insisting that he hadn't done anything wrong and asked police why the woman hadn't been arrested.

Advocate Emma Hollywood, defending, said Duncan wanted to "sincerely apologise" to the court and to the woman.

She described how he had been shocked when he had heard the recording, and that he had consequently sought help from a number of agencies.

Duncan struggled with anxiety, depression, and was autistic, she said.

This impacted how he reacted when he felt something was misrepresented to him, said Advocate Hollywood.

Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke said: "It is a rare occasion that the court get the opportunity to hear a recording of the actual words and threats, and also to see the genuine and contemporaneous reactions from the complainant.

"Everyone who was in the court has been... shocked by what they saw and heard."

The Assistant Magistrate said that Duncan had passed the custodial threshold in principle – but noted his remorse, health, and early guilty pleas.

"You have come extremely close to going to prison," he said.

"I think if the court reached the conclusion that it should send you to prison today, there would be little criticism of that given what we have heard and seen."

Duncan was given 70 hours of community service for the threatening words, and 50 hours for the assault, running concurrently.

He was also given a nine-month probation order.

Duncan was served a restraining order and was placed on the domestic abusers' register, both for two years.