A MAN who carried out a sustained attack on his girlfriend in which he threw her to the ground and jammed her fingers in a door was fined £1,000 at Dunfermline Sheriff Court this week.

Liam Brocklehurst had "little recollection" of the assault, which ended in his partner escaping out of a window in her bare feet and pyjamas.

Appearing for sentencing on Wednesday, Brocklehurst, 34, of Whirlbut Street, Dunfermline, had previously admitted assaulting the woman by seizing her by the neck, pushing her over a bath, pushing her to the ground and jamming her fingers by closing a door on them and pulling her hair, to her injury.

Depute fiscal Rennie said the couple had been in a relationship for about six years but didn't live together. On the evening of the incident, he had told his partner he was going for a drink locally with friends.

At around 3am, Brocklehurst came to her home and, after being invited in, he started to become aggressive. He went into the bathroom and the partner heard him punching the bathroom door so she asked him to leave.

"The accused then grabbed her by the back of the neck and bent her over the bath with her head upside down," said Ms Rennie. "He then threw her to the ground within the bathroom. She managed to get up and went to leave the room and the accused pulled the door closed, jamming her fingers in the door.

She managed to get out of the bathroom and called the accused's father to attend as she was scared."

She then went outside the property to wait for Brocklehurst's father. Brocklehurst came out and grabbed her by the hair, the court was told. When his father arrived, she went back inside and soon heard a scuffle and Brocklehurst coming from one of the rooms so she jumped out of her window, shouted to her neighbour to phone the police, and ran along the street in her bare feet and pyjamas.

When police arrived, she was distressed and upset and had an egg-shaped lump above her eye and bruising on her hand.

Solicitor James Moncrieff said his client had very little recollection of the incident, however, had never never tried to avoid responsibility. "He has expressed remorse and regret," he said. "He is not in a great position to identify why this took place. Alcohol played a role here and explains his lack of memory of this incident and it is something he now realises he has to deal with and has not been consuming alcohol as a result of that.

"His partner says it was totally out of character and a one-off incident and she doesn't consider him to be a threat to her. It would have been frightening for his partner but he has not sought to distance himself from this."

Sheriff Alison McKay said it had been a "sustained" assault.

"I have no idea why you behaved in this manner but, frankly, your partner must have been absolutely terrified particularly if this is not how you normally behave to her," she said.