A freed murderer has been locked up again after attacking his girlfriend.
Paisley man Iain Gallacher, 44, pushed and slapped his partner on the face at her home in Bridge of Weir after he had been downing alcohol during the day while she was at work.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard Gallacher, who was sent down for life for the brutal murder of his best friend Willie Guinea in 1996, assaulted the woman on July 25, last year, after she returned from work and had used her panic alarm in an attempt to get him out of her home.
Procurator fiscal depute Victoria Keel told the court Gallacher, of West Buchanan Place, Paisley, had been in a relationship with the woman for more than five months when he attacked her.
She said: “She left her home to attend her work and left the accused alone.
“When she returned to her home, she noticed the front door had been locked.
“He attended at the front door and allowed her entry. She noticed him to be under the influence of alcohol and a minor argument arose.
“She said she was unhappy and asked him to leave.”
The court heard Gallacher started to collect his belongings, but decided to approach her to try to kiss her, but she rebuffed his advances.
The prosecutor added: “He tried to kiss her on the cheek, but she declined his attentions.
“He then pushed her on the left hand side of her head.
“She felt threatened and was upset.
“She activated her domestic abuse alarm she has at home and contacted police to report the assault.”
The court heard Gallacher flipped out at his girlfriend when he learned she had used her panic alarm.
Ms Keel added: “Shortly after the call being made, the accused approached her and struck her on the right side of her face with his left hand.”
Cops who raced to her home discovered Gallacher was waiting outside the property.
Officers observed the woman’s face was bruised to the right side of her jaw and she had grazes on her cheek.
Gallacher, who had been out on licence at the time of the assault, was arrested and taken into custody.
He appeared in the dock before Sheriff Eoin McGinty where pleaded guilty to the assault, which took place on July 25, last year.
Defence agent Michael McKeown said: “The panic alarm the complainer activated was not for him, but was for a previous offender in her life.
“He accepted responsibility for the assault and waited outside the locus for police to arrive.”
Sheriff McGinty told Gallacher: “The panic alarm given to the complainer was not for you, but it should have been in respect of your previous conviction for murder, and subsequent conviction for assault.”
He locked him up for seven months, reduced from nine months, because of his plea of guilty.
He also handed him a Non Harassment Order lasting three years, preventing him from approaching or contacting the victim.
Previously, Gallacher was convicted of murdering his pal Willie Guinea in a savage attack in Paisley following an all-day drinking session.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment at the High Court in Glasgow after the frenzied killing in November 1995 when he was only 19.
The court heard it was one of the worst killings detectives had investigated where Mr Guinea, 21, suffered 40 stab wounds in the violent attack.
