A MAN is facing jail after admitting a catalogue of emotional and physical abuse against his wife dating back almost 30 years.

Robert Simmons, 62, a father-of-six and a regular church-goer, created an "almost cult-like" atmosphere in his house, drawing up daily timetables of tasks for his wife, divided into 15-minute slots, and punishing her if she failed to follow it.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told Lerwick Sheriff Court it was "one of the very worst cases of domestic abuse".

Simmons's wife, Karen, was forced to carry notebooks, including a "mistake book", where she was made to record all the times she failed to please him.

Police seized hundreds of these notebooks from their home, the fiscal said.

The cumulative effect of his campaign of abuse “completely eroded the complainer’s sense of self-worth”, Mr MacKenzie said.

He made her stand in an outbuilding while he hosed her with cold water, forced her into the boot of a car after she fled the house, and stood on her head.

Simmons, of Sandness, Shetland, admitted 11 charges spanning from 1988 until March of this year, and was told to expect a stint in jail.

In one statement given to police, Simmons told officers: "She took a vow of obedience to me."

The couple's children were home-schooled, meaning Mrs Simmons was "deprived of any interaction with others".

However, after enduring decades of domineering and abusive behaviour Mrs Simmons reached out to Women’s Aid in 2015.

Sheriff Philip Mann deferred sentencing for background reports.

But he warned Simmons to expect a jail sentence.

“It’s difficult to contemplate how I would reasonably look at alternatives to a custodial sentence," he said.