SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Lady Haldane made the following remarks:

"Daniel Howard, on 26th May this year you pled guilty to a serious charge of assaulting your wife on an evening in September 2025, including punching her to the head and compressing her neck, an attack which you accept by your plea was to the danger of her life.

"On the night in question, you had both been drinking and you had also been taking drugs. Your wife went to bed leaving you downstairs and woke to hear you shouting and banging around downstairs. This was behaviour that was out of character and your wife was frightened. She called the police which seems to be the reason you then completely lost control and physically attacked her. Not only that but at the other end of the phone call you could be heard using vile aggressive and threatening language towards your wife as well.

"Whilst this narrative explains the context for this attack it can in no way excuse it. As I said to you at the time of your plea, assaults, mostly on women, by men in a domestic context is a societal scourge and something the justice system as a whole will not tolerate. For that reason, you find yourself in court today.

"I instructed a Criminal Justice Social Work Report, and this is now to hand. This is a helpful document, confirming that while you cannot recall the events of the evening in question you accept full responsibility for what happened and have expressed shame and remorse for your actions, in particular their effect on the person you say you love the most, that is to say your wife.

"It is clear that at the time of these events, alcohol and substance abuse were a feature in your life and had led to disordered paranoid thinking which might also go some way to explaining why you acted the way that you did, as well as a background of stress caused by difficult personal circumstances endured by both you and your wife.

"However, what is significant, and, I recognise, relatively unusual in this sort of context, is that you have since these events taken steps to address the causes of your behaviour yourself, including sustained engagement in support services, as well as identifying healthier coping mechanisms to cope with stress and anxiety.

"It is also noteworthy that you and your wife have also since these vents taken steps to engage in counselling and are committed to rebuilding your relationship after a long period of time as a couple. Such is the level of support you enjoy from your wife, that she actively sought variation of your bail conditions so that you could return to the matrimonial home pending your plea and no adverse reports have been received in the intervening period. There is of course always a concern in a domestic context such as this that such support might be offered against a background of coercive or controlling behaviour, but no evidence of that sort of behaviour has been placed before me and therefore there is no basis for me to conclude that this support is not freely given.

"On the contrary, I have had the benefit of a Victim Impact Statement prepared by Mrs Howard. This is a deeply personal, thoughtful and insightful document, which I am sure was not easy to prepare. I wish to express my thanks to Mrs Howard for this very helpful insight into her perspective on a number of matters relevant to my considerations in this case. I have taken all that she has said into account and have no reason to doubt her ultimate declaration that all that is contained in the document is information and expression of opinion freely given.

"I also note that you are gainfully employed and have been over a period of many years. Your grown-up children are in full time employment, and you enjoy a close relationship with them also.

"The author of the report has spoken to your private therapist who again has reported in similarly positive terms about your engagement with the services he has offered. He reports on your commitment to change and your active efforts to rebuild trust with your wife.

"Your previous serious issues with substance abuse and their inter relationship with your mental health difficulties appear to have been significant and, as I have said, form the backdrop to the events of the night in question. However your progress since then, as reported by the social worker has been considerable, and impressive.

"You have a short list of previous convictions, none of which are relevant for today's purposes, and have only served a short period of detention for a drugs offence when you were 18.

"The author of the report, whilst in no way minimising the seriousness of this offence, concludes on the basis of all the information available that it represents an isolated and uncharacteristic incident, rather than a sustained course of conduct. So far as risk is concerned, she suggests that whilst the risk factors of substance abuse and maladaptive coping strategies still remain, the numerous protective factors outlined indicate a reduced likelihood of recurrence. As she puts it, the point of offence crisis has passed. The report is a careful one, and I am satisfied that the conclusions reached are soundly based.

"I have also had the benefit of a careful submission from Mr Cloggie. He emphasises the significant factors forming the backdrop to these events, your own genuine remorse and engagement with support and services offered to you, and importantly, the views of your wife in relation to all these factors. I have taken into account all that he has had to say.

"With the benefit of all the information available to me, I must now pass a sentence that it appropriate in all the circumstances and takes account of your culpability for this offence, which is high, and the harm caused to your wife. Relevant considerations in general include protection of the public; punishment; rehabilitation of offenders; giving the offender the opportunity to make amends; and expressing disapproval of offending behaviour. It is also the case that a sentence of imprisonment should only be imposed where no other method of dealing with the offender is appropriate.

"There is no doubt that as a generality an offence of this sort would attract a custodial sentence, particularly given the decision to prosecute the matter in the High Court. However, your full recognition and acceptance of responsibility, your positive steps taken since these events to address the underlying causes of your behaviour, the support from your wife and family and the conclusion by the professional social worker that this can be viewed as an isolated incident lead me to the conclusion that in the relatively unusual circumstances of this case, the public interest can be served by a non-custodial disposal which can adequately reflect the sentencing aims of punishment and expressing disapproval of this kind of behaviour in particular, particularly since no public protection issues have been identified.

"Therefore, I am going to impose a Community Payback Order upon you today. The Community Payback Order will require you to undertake a number of requirements that I am going to explain to you. You should listen carefully as I will ask you firstly to confirm that you understand the terms of the Order that I am going to impose and secondly, that you are willing to comply with the Order.

"A Community Payback Order is a punishment that requires you to pay back to the community for the offence that you have committed. I am satisfied that the offence is serious enough to warrant my imposition of this Order because of the nature of the offence of which you have been convicted.

"The Order which I am imposing will include the following requirements:

"Firstly, a Conduct Requirement requiring you to abstain from alcohol and non-prescribed substances for the duration of the Order, Perform an Unpaid Work Requirement, which in your case will be set at 250 hours. This work will be carried out under the instruction of your responsible officer who will be a member of the Criminal Justice Social Department that is a social worker with whom you must stay in touch.  He/she is responsible for allocating you to the work that you will undertake which must be completed under his/her supervision and in a satisfactory manner. You must report to this social worker as required. This work must be completed within a period of 18 months from today's date.

"I will also impose a requirement to be subject to an Offender Supervision requirement for a period of two years six months. During this period, you must attend appointments with your responsible officer at the place and times instructed, for the purposes of promoting your rehabilitation and your continuing good behaviour.

"The maximum number of hours of unpaid work requirement I could have imposed is 300 hours, and the maximum period of supervision 3 years. You did of course tender an early plea to this charge. However, recognising that the matter is a serious one, and that custody was a viable option in this case, I make no further discount either to the number of hours imposed or to the supervision requirement.

"I am also instructing that this order will be subject to a progress review on 7th December 2026 at 9.30 am within the High Court in Edinburgh. The court will be provided with a written report which will advise on your co-operation with the requirements of the Order that I am imposing. You must attend each and any Progress Review. Failure to attend any progress review may mean that a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

"While the Order is in force, you should report any change to your address and your employment status to your responsible officer.

"If you fail to comply with any of the requirements that are being imposed in this Order, you will be reported back to this court and be dealt with for that failure. The Court will either issue a warrant for your arrest, or you will be cited to come to court. If it is proved that you failed to comply without reasonable excuse with the terms of any requirement, the court can fine you, revoke the order and deal with you as if the order had not been imposed, revoke the order and sentence you to imprisonment, vary the order to impose a new requirement or vary, revoke or discharge any requirement imposed by the Order, or impose both a fine and vary the Order.

"This Order is a sentence. If your circumstances change while the order is in force, you or your supervising officer will be entitled to apply to the court to have the order varied, revoked or discharged."

24 June 2026