A GLASGOW man has become the first person to be convicted under a new Scottish domestic abuse law.

William James Murdoch pleaded guilty to offences included making a series of abusive phone calls to his ex-wife and breach of the peace.

He pled guilty to offences under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act and was sentenced at Glasgow Sheriff Court to a community payback order with 14 months' supervision and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also made the subject of a two-year non-harassment order.

Det Supt Gordon McCreadie, Police Scotland's national lead for domestic abuse the introduction of the legislation "marks a new era in how Scotland tackles domestic abuse".

"Those coercive and controlling behaviours, that for so long were the hidden aspects of abuse, are now being brought into the open," he said. "With the new law, we can now investigate and report, the full circumstances of an abusive relationship to Crown, as happened in this case.

"This conviction is a positive start and a clear signal that domestic abuse, in any form will not be tolerated. There is only one person responsible for domestic abuse and that is the perpetrator who should be held to account for their abusive behaviour.

"No one deserves to live in fear and if you are experiencing domestic abuse please seek support from the police or one of our partners. A number of other cases are progressing through the system and we will continue to monitor the new offence to ensure an effective response."

When the bill to criminalise psychological domestic abuse was passed in February campaigners said it "could change Scotland forever".

The Act created a specific offence of "abusive behaviour in relation to a partner or ex-partner".

This includes psychological abuse such as coercive and controlling behaviour as well as violence.

Critics had asserted that it could be difficult to gather sufficient evidence.

But MSPs voted by 118 to one to pass the legislation in February,