A company director has been banned from contacting two former partners for a decade after inflicting horrific abuse, including holding a woman's head under hot water and choking her.

Gary Cairns, of Main Street, Alexandria, was also ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation to his victims after pleading guilty to two charges covering months of criminal behaviour in Helensburgh and elsewhere.

The director of G-Tec Fire & Security Ltd in Alexandria narrowly avoided jail for the domestic abuse.

But the full details of Cairns' crimes were not read out in open court. And the Crown has refused to release them.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry slammed the 30-year-old with a number of descriptions for his behaviour, including "violent", "abusive", "controlling", "bullying", "demeaning", and "violent behaviour towards women".

Cairns' defence solicitor claimed his client was a survivor himself of witnessing domestic violence, but the sheriff said that was no excuse to perpetuate it.

Just before a trial, Cairns pleaded guilty to abusing one partner between December 22, 2018, and March 31, 2019, at properties in Helensburgh, Alexandria, the George Hotel in Inveraray and elsewhere.

He assaulted the woman by repeatedly pushing her on the body, striking her on the head with his hand, seizing her by the hair, seizing her by the throat, and butting her on the head.

Cairns threw her on the bed, seized her by the neck and compressed her throat, causing her breathing to be restricted.

He poured the contents of a bottle over her and held her head under hot water.

Helensburgh Advertiser: Domestic abuse

He dragged her from her bed and caused her to strike her head on the bed post and struck her on the head with his hand.

Cairns seized her by the neck, lifted her from the ground by the neck, restricted her breathing, repeatedly struck her on the head with his hand, and struck her on the head with a mobile phone.

And he again seized her by the throat, threw her onto a bed and pressed down on her neck with his body weight, all to her injury.

Between April 1 and July 25, 2019, he subjected the same woman to abuse at a property in James Street, Helensburgh, Main Street, Alexandria, and elsewhere.

He repeatedly struck her on the head and body with his head while he was driving a vehicle at excessive speeds, causing her to strike her head on the vehicle's window.

Cairns repeatedly seized her by the hair and body and pushed her on the head causing her to strike the vehicle's door frame.

He seized her by the neck, lifted her from the ground by the neck, causing her breathing to be restricted, repeatedly struck her on the head and body, kicked her on the body and caused her to fall down a flight of stairs, and he struck her on the head with a bag, all to her injury.

The second woman, on May 8, 2021 in Main Street, Alexandria, was punched on the head, seized by the throat and pinned against a fridge, all to her injury by Cairns.

Dressed in all black, Cairns returned to the dock on October 31 for sentencing.

Defence solicitor Paul Sweeney said he could not "emphasise enough how remorseful he is".

He insisted "things have moved on" for his client since the abuse he imposed now years ago.

He said Cairns was the company director of G-Tec which had other employees, who could be at risk if their boss were to lose his liberty.

"He feels genuine remorse for this behaviour," said Mr Sweeney.

He said Cairns was "heavily intoxicated with cocaine and alcohol at the time" and that his own life had been scarred by witnessing abuse "a young man should not have seen".

"The irony is not lost on him," said the lawyer.

Helensburgh Advertiser: Dumbarton Sheriff Court

Sheriff Hendry replied: "He has continued the cycle effectively."

"He very much regrets his behaviour and cannot express how sorry he is," continued Mr Sweeney, adding that his client had abstained from drugs and alcohol for months.

"There's a genuine realisation this sort of behaviour cannot continue. He hopes this will be his last appearance in court. He is old enough to know better."

Sheriff Hendry said: "You may have had a dreadful childhood, but that's no excuse or even explanation and what you have achieved is the perpetuation of that sort of horror.

"I have doubts about whether this is the correct sentences or not."

Instead of a jail sentence, Sheriff Hendry imposed a string of significant alternatives.

Cairns will be tagged and forced to stay home between 7pm and 7am for four months.

He must do 300 hours of unpaid work in the community - the maximum.

Social workers will supervise him for 18 months where he must take any treatment or counselling for anger management or substance abuse.

He must pay £3,000 in compensation to the ex from 2018 and 2019 and £1,000 to the second.

And both survivors of his abuse will be protected by 10-year non-harassment orders banning any contact.

Before leaving the dock, Cairns said: "Cheers your honour."