A HIGH Valleyfield man who assaulted his ex-wife has been sentenced to 240 hours of unpaid work.

Ross Thomas, 48, of Woodhead Street, previously admitted that on July 17, 2016, at an address in Oakley, he assaulted her, seized her by the hair, repeatedly punched her, grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to the floor, all to her injury.

Defence solicitor Stephen Morrison said his client had been married to his partner for 20 years and she asked him to leave the property.

Thomas became homeless for seven months and lived on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The court was told he has since been living with his niece after being clean from drugs for three months.

Mr Morrison said that Thomas was turning his life around and had been allocated accommodation that he was waiting to move into.

Sheriff Craig McSherry told him: "I was in mind to give you a custodial sentence today Mr Thomas because you have breached orders before.

"However, I have decided to impose a new community payback order of 240 hours unpaid work."