Remorseless victim-blaming Perth thug spared jail for ‘alarming’ assaults on mum

A victim-blaming thug who bit into his mother’s head so hard he left teeth marks and later crushed her face into the ground with his foot has been spared jail.

Christian Stanford was previously warned he could face prison for twice assaulting his mum at her home in Scone.

The 26-year-old returned to Perth Sheriff Court for sentencing, after a sheriff demanded further engagement with social workers.

It followed a pre-sentencing report that suggested Stanford had “little empathy or thought for other people”.

The court heard he had not attended his first appointment and slept in on the day of his second.

Dismissed process as ‘joke’

Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC told him: “It is of concern that I gave you an opportunity to re-engage.

“You missed two interviews that were arranged for you.

“And then when you did attend, you again spoke disparagingly about your mother.

“You took no responsibility for your actions and you denied any wrongdoing.

“You offered no insight and gave the impression of annoyance, avoiding answering questions and victim blaming.”

The sheriff said: “In the previous report you described the whole process as a ‘joke’ and said you had done nothing wrong.

“Your actions caused serious harm to your mother, physically and emotionally.

“The descriptions of how you assaulted her are alarming.

“And for that you have shown no remorse and no empathy.”

The court heard Stanford had otherwise completed a Right Track programme for young offenders.

Banning order

He was ordered to carry out 250 hours unpaid work and must stay home between 7am and 7pm each night as part of a six-month restriction of liberty order.

The sheriff also ordered him to stay away from his mother’s home for a year.

Stanford, who has oppositional defiant disorder and ADHD, was found guilty after trial of assaulting his mother in his garden on July 9 2023.

A neighbour told how she felt “sickened” when she found the woman lying outside her home, screaming for help, with her face so swollen her eyes were like slits.

Stanford, of High Street, Perth, tried to blame her injuries on the family dog, but he was convicted after Sheriff Bain dismissed his evidence as “almost wholly incredible and unreliable”.

A year earlier, Stanford attacked his mum in her living room, biting into her head so hard he left teeth marks. 

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