A former Scottish international boxer who launched a violent assault on his ex-partner in a vodka-fuelled rage was spared a jail sentence today.
Mark Hastie, 39, whose light-welterweight skills propelled him into the Scottish team at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, grabbed her by the hair then pushed her down the steps of her home in Camelon, Falkirk, before barricading himself inside and trashing her wardrobes.
A sheriff said Hastie - whom he described as having boxed at the highest level - had afterwards shown a complete lack of insight into his actions.
India Maclean, prosecuting, said Hastie had "attended" at the home of his then partner, Kerry Scott, at 9.30 pm, a few weeks before Christmas 2020.
Miss Maclean said: "He was drinking vodka and became aggressive towards her.
"He began shouting at her and calling her a prostitute, grabbing her by the wrists and shaking her. She pushed past him and as she did so he grabbed her hair, continuing to shout that she was a prostitute.
"She tried to walk away from him, and he started to follow her around the property."
Miss Scott, 42, opened the front door and asked Hastie to leave, but he then pushed her out of the front door, causing her to fall down the steps and onto the ground.
Miss Maclean said: "He shut the door, putting a chair against it, barricading himself within. This meant Miss Scott could not get back in."
A neighbour who heard her shouting invited Miss Scott into her house to wait for the police.
When officers arrived the door was still barricaded, and he refused to let them in.
Eventually he relented and they entered.
Miss Maclean said: "Drawers and cupboards had been emptied of clothing and these items strewn across the property.
"Mr Hastie was removed, continuing to shout that Miss Scott was a prostitute."
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that three days later, after being released on bail following a weekend in police cells, Hastie began bombarding Miss Scott with messages.
He threatened to get a lawyer to go through her personal information and saying, "There's a lot of things that bring down your credibility."
Miss Maclean, the depute fiscal, said: "The messages continued and they are about 10 pages long. The complainer doesn't reply to most of them, and when she does it's mainly to say that he shouldn't contact her."
Miss Maclean said that since the incident, Miss Scott had left the address in Watling Street, Camelon, where the incident, on 5th December 2020, occurred.
Father-of-two Hastie, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of domestic abuse.
Solicitor Bunny McGeechan, defending, said "the unnecessary row" had "started as a result of perceived infidelity".
He said the former boxer was now working as a steel fabricator.
He said: "His behaviour is certainly affected by over-consumption of alcohol. When he's sober he's an entirely amiable chap."
Sheriff Derek Livingston said: "He came into her house, he wasn't wanted, and he assaulted her [and] I see from the report that he considered that it was an open relationship when he threw those comments at her, so I consider that behaviour was exacerbated.
"He boxed at the highest level."
He told Hastie: "I'm extremely tempted to send you to custody, but with a lot of hesitation I come to the conclusion that I can't honestly say there is no reasonable alternative."
He sentenced Hastie to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work and placed him under supervision for two years with a requirement to attend alcohol counselling.
He also imposed a non-harassment order, preventing him from contacting Miss Scott for five years.
He stressed the sentences were a direct alternative to custody.
When Hastie "exploded" onto the light-welterweight scene in 2005, Scots national coach Dr John McKay hailed his debut performance as one of the greatest-ever by a homegrown competitor.
