A 33-YEAR-OLD man, who exercised controlling behaviour over his former partner in Cowdenbeath almost two years, has been ordered to pay her £2,000 compensation.

Christopher Byrne was also sentenced to carry out unpaid work for “terrorising” the woman.

Byrne, of Lime Place, Uddingston, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court

He admitted that between January 1, 2021, and October 1 last year in Cowdenbeath and elsewhere, he engaged in an abusive course of behaviour towards his partner.

He repeatedly shouted, swore, acted in an aggressive manner, made offensive and derogatory remarks towards her, damaged a washing basket by striking it and accused her of having relationships with other men.

He pushed her, causing her to fall to the ground, seized her by the body and pushed her, repeatedly sent her unwanted messages by text, social media and email containing offensive and derogatory remarks and sent a video of them engaged in sexual activity.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said Byrne had started taking steroids and his partner noticed a change in his behaviour. He became quick-tempered and his conduct was described as “unpredictable”.

The woman works as a personal trainer and Byrne sent abusive messages to her business account, including calling her a “fat slut”

Sheriff Charles Macnair told Byrne: “This was two years of terrorising her. You had been taking drugs and that makes it far worse.”

He also noted that Byrne has a history of violent offending.

He warned Byrne not to breach any of his sentence or he would be quickly brought back to court.

The sheriff imposed a community payback order with three years of supervision, 270 hours of unpaid work and a five-year non-harassment order.

Byrne was also ordered to pay the victim £2,000 compensation.