Man sentenced to nine years for domestic violence

A 52-year old man from Glasgow has been given a 15-year extended sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh for a campaign of domestic abuse against five women that spanned 30 years. He will spend nine years in custody, reduced from ten years to reflect his guilty plea.

Anne Marie Hicks, head of the Domestic Abuse Unit in the Glasgow Procurator Fiscal's Office, said:

"This is one of the most severe cases of domestic abuse we have ever dealt with, and I hope it will serve as a warning to other abusers that they will be pursued and will be sent to prison.”

The Domestic Abuse Unit was set up in the Glasgow Procurator Fiscal Office at the end of March 2009. In its first 18 months it received reports from the police in excess of 5,500 cases.

The Procurator Fiscal Service defines domestic abuse as 'any form of physical, sexual or mental and emotional abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere'.

Approximately a quarter of all custody cases reported to the Procurator Fiscal in Glasgow involve domestic abuse.