Walls man who controlled family with ‘fear and aggression’ is jailed

Content warning: This story contains details of domestic abuse. If you have been affected by this issue, help is available.

A WALLS man who subjected his wife, children and the family dog to years of violence and emotional abuse has been jailed for more than two years.

Henry Wishart, also known locally as Harry Wishart, was told that his family will likely be “psychologically scarred for life” as a result of the torment he had caused them.

The 38 year old pleaded guilty to subjecting his ex-partner to a catalogue of abuse between 1 January 2022 and 19 May 2025, which occurred across various locations including the family home and the A970 main road.

He admitted punching her in the head while he was driving, throwing a knife, mobile phone, a broom and a tape measure at her – all to her injury – and repeatedly making derogatory comments about her appearance.

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Between 1 April 2022 and 19 May 2025, Wishart also subjected his children to a series of attacks or assaults.

On one occasion he submerged the head of one of his children in a bucket of water, and on another he locked his children in an unfinished room of a house and covered the door up with a wooden board.

The court heard that between 01 January 2023 and 01 May 2025 Wishart caused unnecessary suffering to the family’s pet labrador too.

Wishart suspended the dog from the roof of a garage using a rope and did “repeatedly kick the dog on the body”.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie previously called this an “extremely harrowing” case.

Lerwick Sheriff Court were played discreet recordings made by Wishart’s partner on Wednesday, one of which could be heard to show Wishart screaming at her and their children as they cried.

Mackenzie said Wishart “could explode in anger” for no discernible reason, and the clip was “representative of his general behaviour”.

The woman could be heard repeatedly asking Wishart to leave her alone, with him screaming and swearing at her.

In another, Wishart was heard to be driving his wife to town in the snow and repeatedly aggressively swearing at her and calling her derogatory names.

In the final clip, Wishart could be heard speaking aggressively and swearing at his children at the dinner table.

Mackenzie outlined some of Wishart’s behaviour to his former partner, which had included injuring her by throwing items at her, punching her and frequently lunging at her as if he was going to hurt her.

The woman had told police this had “caused her the greatest fear”, and the fiscal said there had been an “unrelenting atmosphere of fear” in the house.

Wishart also used his car as a weapon, driving on occasions at speeds exceeding 100mph to scare and intimidate his family.

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On one occasion, Wishart had braked harshly and one of his children had hit their face on the back of a car seat, causing their nose to bleed.

The fiscal said Wishart seemed to treat his children as an inconvenience and had hit one in the face with a tent pole because he was angry at the way they were swinging it.

Another occasion saw Wishart’s former partner leave for an hour and return to hear the children screaming. Wishart had left them in an unfinished room of their Walls home and closed it up with a plywood panel.

None of the children’s physical injuries required hospital treatment, however one of the children suffered from abdominal pain around a year before Wishart was arrested.

A paediatrician looked at the injury and determined it was likely to have been caused by “anxiety or psychological stress”.

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The final incident, which resulted in the complainer walking out, saw Wishart strike the child with the tent pole and then throw a hammer and tape measure at his wife and children.

However when he was arrested, Wishart claimed the tent pole had been an “accident”, and that the hammer had simply bounced up from the floor near to the complainers.

In August 2025, after his arrest, Wishart went to the police station and claimed his wife had been controlling him and stopping him from seeing his family.

He said his children were “always trying to get him in to trouble”.

Mackenzie said Wishart “seeks to control with fear and aggression” and had ruled a household that was left with an “atmosphere of unremitting anxiety and fear”.

Sheriff Neil Wilson was concerned by Wishart’s social work report, which said he had a “limited acceptance” of his guilt.

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But defence agent Tommy Allan said Wishart now fully accepted responsibility for his actions.

He said there was “no justification for what he has admitted to have doing” but said that Wishart saw some of the perceived arguments with his wife differently.

Listening to the covert recordings of his behaviour had been “extremely distressing” for Wishart, Allan said.

Allan said the family dog was checked by the SSPCA and a vet afterwards and was found to have sustained no injuries.

Wishart “can’t blame her [his wife] for his behaviour” but said he had felt anxious and depressed while moving the family to a new house they were building in Walls – which had been a source of some difficulties.

He also said Wishart was running a business which supported two other families and had been stressed by this.

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Allan said Wishart was someone who was being psychologically assessed and who was willing to carry out any form of non-custodial treatment.

He supplied two photos to the court – of Wishart with his children, and Wishart with the dog – and said that this was what his client had lost.

“That is a severe punishment,” he said. “Any further punishment does not need to be custodial.”

Sheriff Wilson strongly disagreed, however, saying that there was no alternative to a jail sentence.

He said Wishart deserved credit for pleading guilty at an early stage, adding: “That is the only thing you deserve credit for.”

References had been provided to the court in support of Wishart and his community value, but the sheriff said these were just evidence of the “double life” he had led.

“You were presenting a very different course of conduct to your wife and children at home,” he said

“This was a sustained course of coercive and controlling behaviour.”

Wishart was jailed for a total of 28 months, down from 42 months as a result of his early plea.

He was ordered not to approach or contact his former partner or their children for an indefinite period.

Wishart was also ordered that he cannot own an animal for a period of 10 years and was told he will be under supervision for one year when he is released from jail.