A CONVICTED domestic abuser went to his ex-partner's house in breach of a bail order to stay away — just days before he was due to be sentenced.

Martin McGhee has spent his birthday behind bars after a sheriff remanded him in custody for flouting the court directive not to approach or contact the woman.

McGhee, 44, went to her Greenock home on March 22 after being found guilty at trial of threatening or abusive behaviour, acting aggressively and climbing into the property through a window.

He was previously convicted of assaulting the woman and has another conviction for domestic abuse against her.

Prosecutor Mark Nicol said: "When the witness returned to the house the accused was there, asleep on a couch in the living room."

McGhee's ex told the trial last month that she was so terrified of him during a bust-up at the house that she wet herself.

Sobbing, she said: "He pushed me right up against the wall at the top of my stairs and that's when I really panicked."

A friend of the woman said she received a series of phone calls from her during the incident on December 20 last year, adding: "She was hysterical.

"She screamed, 'Leave me, just leave me' and then the phoned went dead.

Asked how her friend sounded, she said: "Terrified."

McGhee, of Lyle Street, appeared in court from custody to plead guilty to the bail breach through lawyer Aidan Gallagher.

Mr Gallagher said: "A common feature has been alcohol, in the case of both parties.

"He was found asleep in the house."

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre has deferred sentence on McGhee until Wednesday, when he will also be sentenced for the trial matter.