A DRUNKEN pensioner smashed his partner's mobile with a screwdriver then told her she'd 'no right' to use his phone to call for help.

David Kerr, 65 — who uses a walking stick to get about — had fallen down a flight of stairs at the woman's Greenock home but hurled foul-mouthed abuse at her when she went to his aid.

The town's sheriff court heard how Kerr called his partner of five years, who is aged 67, a 'clown' after taunting her over her phone and laying it on the floor before striking it until it broke.

Procurator fiscal Ziad Ul Hassan said: "The accused had been drinking heavily and he began to shout and swear towards her.

"There came a point where he fell down the stairs and as she assisted him he swore at her in telling her where to go.

"She helped him to the living room where he continued drinking alcohol.

"The accused picked up a screwdriver and her mobile phone and asked his partner if she wanted her phone back.

"When she said 'yes' he put the phone on the floor and struck it with the screwdriver until the screen smashed."

The court heard how the incident during the afternoon of October 15 was Kerr's second domestically aggravated offence within a year.

Prosecutor Mr Ul Hassan said: "The accused continued to shout and swear and his partner contacted a friend in a distressed state.

"The accused could be heard in the background swearing at his partner in telling her to 'get off the phone or else'.

"He was heard stating, 'You've no right to use my phone ya clown'."

Defence lawyer David Tod said: "It's an old cliché but you couldn't meet a nicer man than Mr Kerr when he is sober.

"In fairness to him, it's a battle but a battle that he is now winning."

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre told Kerr, of Balloch Road: "I will defer sentence to keep a close eye on you because this is the second time that this has happened in a year.

"I'm told that you are taking things seriously."

Kerr, of Balloch Road — who lives separately from his partner — has been ordered to be of good behaviour until May 29 when a report from alcohol counsellors will be put before the court.