| ANGUS HOWARTH
A MAN yesterday admitted attacking his partner during an argument over Harry Potter.
Walter Arnott turned on Mary McNiven after she questioned why he had let their daughter buy a toy based on the character.
An argument started before Arnott hit Miss McNiven across the face.
Arnott, 54, pled guilty to the assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was fined £250.
The court heard that the child had spent her birthday in May staying with her grandmother.
Arnott came to pick her up and the girl showed him a card she had been given by a relative. In it was a £20 note, which the girl asked if she could spend that day.
Her father then decided to take her to a nearby Toys R Us store so she could buy a present for herself.
The court was told they soon left with the child holding a new Harry Potter figure.
The pair arrived home and Miss McNiven asked where their daughter had got the toy. When told, she demanded to know why Arnott had let her get the gift. She then branded him "useless" and threw a card at him.
Arnott, of Ibrox, Glasgow, then stood up and lashed out at Miss McNiven.
Harvey Diamond, defending, said the argument had caused the pair to split and they were now living apart.
The lawyer added: "He had collected their daughter and allowed her to spend a portion of the money - around £15 - she had been given.
"The accused was angry at what the woman had said to him later that day and reacted from that.
"He now accepts what he done was wrong."
Miss McNiven refused hospital treatment, but complained of toothache and a sore cheek. Arnott, who is registered disabled, later expressed sorrow over the attack. | |
