A TEENAGER who punched his girlfriend after he had been accused of flirting with others has been ordered to do unpaid work.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Jake Henderson, 18, was told he had behaved like a six-year-old.

He had previously admitted that on two occasions between April 13 and June 8, at addresses in Dunfermline, he engaged in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his ex-partner, aged 16. He repeatedly behaved in an aggressive manner towards her, punched her to the head, seized her by the body, and punched her on the head, causing her glasses to break.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said Henderson, now of Kinloss Crescent in Cupar, had been in a relationship with the girl for around seven months and both had been residing at her address.

On the first occasion, they had been drinking with another friend when an argument broke out over a phone. On the date in June, he had bought a bottle of vodka and gone with his partner and friends to a wooded area where he had drunk most of the vodka and others had consumed smaller amounts.

An argument broke out after it was perceived that he had started to flirt with a 14-year-old and another female, the court was told. An argument started between Henderson and his partner.

He then began to shout and swear and goaded others to fight. When his partner intervened to try to stop him, he punched her once on the head and grabbed her and screamed in her face. He then fell over and, on getting up, lunged at her three times, swinging at her. One of the punches struck her face, which caused her glasses to break.

Sheriff Alastair Brown ordered Henderson to do 135 hours of unpaid work within nine months and placed him on a community payback order with supervision for one year. He also granted a non-harassment order banning him from contacting or attempting to contact his former partner for two years.

He told him: "You were in an adult relationship but you were behaving like a six-year-old. That doesn't work. You abused this young woman and that is serious. Whatever problems you may have had yourself, domestic abuse is serious."