A MAN who assaulted a woman in her own home on front of her five children has been jailed.

Stephen Kerr, of Kirkland Road in Glengarnock, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week from custody and pled guilty to three charges. His plea of not guilty to a fourth charge was accepted by the prosecutor.

The court was told that Kerr, 33, turned up at the woman’s address in the Garnock Valley on October 16 and behaved in a threatening or abusive manner. He entered the house through an insecure door uninvited, shouted, swore, and refused to leave when requested to do so.

He also entered through an insecure window uninvited, shouted, swore, refused to leave when requested to do so, and placed a hammer and a metal baton within a bedroom there.

Kerr also assaulted the woman at the property in that he pushed her on the body.

The 33-year-old’s actions placed the woman and the five children – who ranged in age from one to 13 – in such a state of fear and alarm that they left the house to seek refuge elsewhere.

Kerr was jailed for six months, which the court backdated to October 16.