Man fined over threats to ‘train’ his Filipino wife

Published on 16/08/2012 01:30

A WATER buffalo trainer who threatened to tie his Filipino bride to his car and drag her around because she had become “too westernised” has been fined £400.

Gavin Sangster, from Perth, who said he wanted to “retrain” his wife Erlinda to become more obedient, was described by a sheriff as “objectionable” and “completely unbelievable”.

Sangster, who trains buffalo to race in Bali, yesterday blamed his wife for starting the incident by storming out of their home.

Solicitor Alison McKay told Perth Sheriff Court: “At the time of the offence she left the family home deliberately with the intention of causing Mr Sangster stress and anxiety about her.

“There have been certain difficulties with the relationship, but not related to his behaviour.”

But Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Sangster that he was not surprised his wife had decided to leave the family home.

He said: “The comments you made were quite objectionable and the police officer was rightly alarmed and concerned. Your reply verges, quite frankly, on the completely unbelievable.”

Fiscal depute Carol Whyte said the couple, who met while Sangster was working in the Phillipines and Bali, had been married for seven years.

Police officers visited his home in Perth after he reported his wife as a missing person when she stormed off following an argument.

Sangster claimed he was 
talking about his job when a police officer overheard him threatening to drag his wife round to “retrain her”.

He told police: “When she comes back I’m going to tie a rope around her neck and drag her through the streets of Perth with my car. She’s a f****** dog and needs to be trained.”

He was arrested but claimed the comments were about the water buffalo he worked with.

Sangster, 38, of Dundee Road, Perth, admitted behaving in a threatening and abusive manner by repeatedly making comments about causing physical harm to his wife on 18 January.