Patrick Bennet 
One lad from Paisley, Scotland was forced to spend the holidays in jail after he completely lost his mind due to finding out that the present his girlfriend got him for Christmas was a Lynx set worth just $2.70. The raging man had to stay behind bars through both Christmas and New Year’s Day.
21-year old Steven Manson flipped after he asked his girlfriend Nicole Armstrong what she intended to get him for Christmas. An episode of domestic violence followed.
Despite the unpleasant fight that occurred, the recent trial at Paisley’s Sheriff Court decided that the charges against the young man for assaulting and choking Nicole Armstrong, and also causing fear in her, had to be dropped.
However, he was found guilty of damaging her kitchen—he allegedly kicked the door and made a hole in it. The testimonies before the court cleared up what happened that night. The young man, who worked as a cleaner, decided to spend the night before 1st of December in his girlfriend’s apartment in Kilbarchan, and shortly thereafter things escalated very quickly.
Ms. Armstrong stated before the court that her boyfriend simply came to her home, and soon there was an argument erupting between them. In her own words, she was out shopping for Christmas and she got him a Lynx set along with the other things she bought; he clearly did not like, nor was he grateful, for her gift.
He started shouting at her, accusing her of thinking $2.70 was all he was worth. She said that she just picked the set up with the other stuff and that she was eventually going to buy him a bigger present. However, Manson kept bringing the $2.70 value of the present up again and again, and the situation ended up getting pretty rough.
As Armstrong stated, Manson got pretty angry at her, and he even started jumping towards her, but she managed to push him away. After this, the couple went in the kitchen where the fight continued, and Manson damaged her kitchen door in his anger, which was the tipping point for her. She decided that she just had to call the police.
Manson then called for a taxi, and while he waited outside, he kicked the veranda door as well. 57-year old Shona White stood as a witness in the trial, and she stated that she heard a man’s voice shouting loud outside for at least 10 minutes, and she went to her window a couple of times to see what was going on.
When depute Hazel Emmerson asked her if she could positively identify Manson, White was unable to do so.
Manson also testified in the court room, and he confirmed that the fight was initiated after he asked Armstrong what else was he getting him, but he added that she called him an “ungrateful bastard”.
He claimed that when he went towards her to give her a hug, she pushed him back, and that is exactly where it all started. That seemed enough for Sheriff Janys Scott to drop the assault charges, as well as the charges of putting his girlfriend in an alarmed state. However, she found him guilty of damaging her kitchen door, which is a clear violation of another person’s private property.
Mark Chamber was in the role of Manson’s defender, and he stated that his client had already spent a month within custody after his arrest, adding that the period included all the holidays, which equaled altogether equaled to two months spent in prison.
The Sheriff’s final decision was to drop the abovementioned assault charges, but still Manson had to compensate for the damage he caused, and he was forced to pay a $150 fine.
Nicole Armstrong was not happy about the sentence, and she—rightfully so—completely cut off all relations with Manson.
The moral of this story is that Christmas is not about the presents, it is about the attention you give and receive and the joy, love and laughter the holidays bring. Manson clearly had other issues and eventually he got what he deserved. We can only hope that he learned his lesson and from now on he will appreciate the people who really care for him, especially during the holidays.
H/T – Source
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