A woman and her two young children were left shaken after her ex-partner chased them through Perth in their car then punched through a window, covering the littlest one in broken glass.
Perth Sheriff Court heard Steven Cameron had been aiming to punch one of the front windows of the car during the attack in the Letham area of the city last year but missed and struck a rear window instead.
The court was told the pursuit occurred after the woman fled her property with the children following a heated row with Cameron that started when she asked him to get out of bed but he refused.
“The accused stated he didn’t want to do anything and became aggressive,” fiscal depute Andrew Harding explained.
Mr Harding said Cameron then used a number of vile terms to describe the woman and she subsequently told him to leave the property and not to come back.
“The witness went into the children’s bedroom and shut the door,” he continued. “The accused picked up an object and threw it down the hallway.”
The court heard a short time later the woman attempted to flee the property in her car with her two children from a previous relationship but Cameron then pursued her in his own vehicle.
Mr Harding said the two cars came to a stop a short distance away on Rannoch Road then Cameron got out and approached the other vehicle.
“The accused exited his vehicle and shouted at the witness through the window,” he said. “The witness had safety locks on the car to prevent the accused from entering.
“The accused thereafter punched the rear window causing the glass to smash.
“The smashed glass covered the witness’s daughter who was sitting in the rear of the vehicle.”
Mr Harding said the woman then reversed her car and drove away then pulled over to call the police once she had put some distance between herself and Cameron.
The court heard the pair had been together for 18 months prior to the incident.
Defence solicitor Pauline Cullerton said in mitigation when Cameron lashed out at his ex-partner’s car he was aiming for the front of the vehicle and had not meant to hit the rear window.
She conceded the incident must have been “particularly frightening” for the children.
“The relationship is at an end,” she added.
Cameron, of Mitchell Street, Crieff, admitted repeatedly shouting, swearing, acting in an aggressive manner and uttering abusive remarks towards the woman at her home in Perth on April 7 last year.
He further admitted culpably and recklessly punching the window of his former partner’s car on the same date and causing it to break to the danger of the children sat inside.
Sheriff John MacRitchie described Cameron’s behaviour towards the young family that day as “abhorrent”.
He deferred sentence until May 20 this year for the preparation of a further background report concerning Cameron.