Carnwath store CCTV gave the lie to couple's assault claim

She denied that and was kept in custody while they carried out further investigations.

The police then released her after seeing video taken by the store’s CCTV system.

“It was apparent that at no time did any assault take place,” depute fiscal Ziad Hassan told Lanark Sheriff Court last Wednesday.

Mark Allison, 38, and Kirsty Irvine, 36, both of Murrray Terrace, Carnwath, were due to go to trial after denying falsely reporting to the police that they had been assaulted in January, but during an adjournment, their solicitors also watched the CCTV footage, and when the case recalled, both admitted that charge.

Archie Hill, for Allison said that there had been “some sort of verbal altercation” and some “to-ing and fro-ing” but conceded that his client had overstated the case.

A solicitor for Irvine, who had claimed that a car door had been slammed against her arm, ventured a similar defence, but sheriff Robert Weir challenged that claim.

“It doesn’t sound like an overstating,” he said. “It sounds like an untruth. It simply didn’t happen.”

He ordered Allison to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and Irvine to do 80.