A SHERIFF has been criticised by women's rights groups after sparing a police officer a jail sentence on domestic abuse convictions partly because of his force record.

 

Ministry of Defence police sergeant Andrew Richardson, who won medals guarding Britain's nuclear subs, avoided a custodial sentence after Sheriff Gillian Wade QC praised his police record.

The court heard Richardson blackened his wife's eye and assaulted his lover, Noreen Pacteau, 43-year-old mother of courier firm director Alexander Pacteau, the man accused of the murder of Irish student Karen Buckley in Glasgow.

Richardson, 46, branded "plausible and manipulative" by both women, kicked Ms Pacteau six times in the stomach and punched his wife in front of her own mother.

Mrs Richardson, who is still officially married to Richardson but hoping for a divorce, was assaulted in 1999, while the attack on Ms Pacteau happened in 2011.

After a five-day trial last month, a jury at Stirling Sheriff Court took just half an hour to find Richardson, of Drymen, Stirlingshire, guilty of the assaults.

The court heard that Richardson, of Drymen, Stirlingshire, helped run security at RNAD Coulport in Argyll, the storage and loading facility for the UK's stock of Trident nuclear warheads and at Faslane, home to Britain's four Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

His defence counsel Mark Moir said Richardson was considered a "trustworthy" officer, and had won both a Divisional Commander's commendation and a good conduct medal during 25 years' service. Mr Moir said Richardson had now been "required to resign".

After reading a background report, Sheriff Gillian Wade QC said Richardson, who had denied the charges, still did not accept his guilt.

But she said she would sentence him to a community-based disposal, of 300 hours unpaid work, "as a direct alternative to custody" because of his work record and lack of previous convictions.

She said: "These were serious assaults which have had an impact on the ladies concerned, and giving their statements to the court was clearly a traumatic occasion for them both.

"I do however take into account the fact that you have come to court as a first offender, and these offences are of an historic nature.

"I take into account that you have previously been of good character and that you are in employment and that employment seems to have gone very well until now, and I take into account the consequences which these convictions will have on you in that regard, which will clearly be significant."

Outside court, Mrs Richardson condemned the sentence, saying: "It is totally unjust, soft-touch justice.

"The SNP have told judges they shouldn't be locking so many people up, and this is the result. He definitely should have been jailed."

A spokeswoman for the Glasgow-based Women's Support Project said: "The fact your behaviour outwith the home is an excuse for abuse against family members is quite worrying and very misguided. To me it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the nature of domestic abuse.

Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive of Scottish Women's Aid, said: "I will say that this is not the first domestic abuse sentence that cited a good law enforcement record as justification for a lighter sentence. We find it strange indeed that being an officer of the law would not be seen as an aggravating factor rather than a mitigating one."

During the trial, the court heard that the assault on Mrs Richardson came to light after Noreen blew the whistle -- and officers from the Police Scotland domestic abuse investigation unit began to probe his previous relationships.

Mrs Richardson, a furniture restorer, said the attack happened at a time Richardson wanted to move from Glasgow to the country.

He also criticised her appearance and her work commitment -- branding her "a fat lazy b*****d".