THE twin brother of a notorious killer has been jailed after battering his pregnant wife while she held a baby in her arms.
George Leathem, whose twin John was caged for life for butchering teenager Paige Doherty to death, carried out the brutal attack on his partner Amie at their home in Allison Avenue, Erskine.
He lashed out after Amie returned home from work and found him drunk.
Despite the fact she was two months’ pregnant and holding a young child, Leathem repeatedly punched her – leaving both her and the baby covered in blood.
The details emerged on Friday when convicted sex offender Leathem appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to go on trial over the events of August 25 this year.
He struck a deal with prosecutors which saw him pleading guilty to two charges he faced in exchange for one being dropped.
Leathem, 35, admitted assaulting his wife and behaving in a threatening or abusive way towards police officers who went to arrest him, while a charge of threatening her, banging on the door of the property and demanding entry was removed.
Procurator fiscal depute Maureen McGovern said: “The accused and the lady have been together for four years and have been one year married. The lady is pregnant.
“She came home from work at 5.45pm to discover the accused to be heavily under the influence of alcohol, sitting on the couch, attempting to bottle feed the baby.
“She saw he was unable to do this because he was so intoxicated and removed the child from him and fed her by herself.”
Leathem later grabbed Amie by the hair and punched her several times.
Miss McGovern added: “He punched her directly in the face, causing her nose to burst and bleed heavily.
“Indeed, blood went everywhere – sadly not only on her but also the young child and also the accused.”
Leathem then left but police found him at the rear of the house when they arrived.
He was arrested and went on to hurl homophobic insults and threats of violence at officers as they took him to the police station.
Sheriff David Pender had been asked to adjourn sentencing until next month for background reports to be prepared.
But after hearing that Leathem had been working in a whisky bond, was already on a Community Payback Order and was subject to a deferred sentence in other cases, the judge rejected the request.
As he locked Leathem up for nine months, he slammed him for his conduct, saying: “This is an appalling offence.
“To do this to your wife while she’s carrying a child and is pregnant defies belief as far as I’m concerned.”
Leathem’s twin brother stabbed 15-year-old Paige more than 60 times in a fit of rage at his delicatessen shop in Clydebank in March 2016.
He admitted murder and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence.
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