Punishments: Lanna Monaghan, pictured, abused the boy when he 'pushed her buttons'

An Army veteran used a dog training collar to inflict electric shocks on a 'defenceless' toddler as a form of punishment.

Lanna Monaghan, 34, subjected the child to an 'appalling' 15-month campaign of physical abuse, kicking and biting the boy when he 'pushed her buttons'.

She also forced the boy to have cold showers and, on one occasion, beat him so hard that she broke a wooden spoon. He was just three years old when the catalogue of abuse was uncovered.

Monaghan, of Fort Augustus, was remanded in custody at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting to five charges of assaulting the boy in 2014 and 2015.

She told police that she had a temper and could 'zone out' and would go 'out of control'.

Monaghan wept as she was told by Judge Lady Rae that it would be 'very difficult' to avoid jail.

The court heard that the abuse was uncovered when a concerned female dog owner notified the authorities of two alarming exchanges with Monaghan.

Monaghan, a private car hire employee, had seen the woman using an electric collar to train her pets and said: 'If it works on a dog it will work on kids.'

Advocate depute Jane Farquharson said: '[The collar] works by a remote control which when activated delivers an electric shock through the collar that the dog feels on its neck.'

Monaghan later revealed to the woman in a phone call that she had shouted to the child: 'Do you want me to go and get the f*****g buzzer?'.

The dog owner suspected Monaghan had bought her own dog collar.

Horrifying: The dog collar used by Lanna Monaghan to inflict electric shocks on a a 'defenceless' child

During an interview Monaghan initially denied giving the toddler electric shocks with the collar.

But she later admitted to giving the boy three shocks in quick succession when he had refused to swallow a mouthful of food.

When police saw the little boy, they noted he had suffered injuries to his face. Doctors later discovered a number of non-accidental injuries, including bruises on his body and multiple red marks on his neck that were a fixed distance from each other.

The court heard these neck injuries were consistent with what appeared to be electrodes on the dog collar. In response, the judge said: 'So it must have been applied on a number of occasions'.

Monaghan, who served in the Army for nine years, pleaded guilty to fixing the electric dog collar and inflicting shocks on the boy in July last year. She also admitted forcing the boy to stand in a shower while she kicked him, turning the water off and on.

Cruel: Lanna Monaghan, 34, pictured, subjected the child to an 'appalling' 15-month campaign of abuse

She also pleaded guilty to biting him on the ear and repeatedly striking him with a wooden spoon.

A tearful Monaghan later told a psychiatric nurse that she got 'fired up' and described having continuing 'anger issues'.

She later told police: 'I am truly sorry for what happened, I can't believe it happened.' She claimed the child 'pushes my buttons, spitting on me, peeing on the floor and being sick on the floor'.

She said that at times she would be crouched down to the child's eye level, shouting and swearing aggressively at him when he wet himself and cried.

The prosecutor said: 'She did not appear to recognise the possibility that the child was reacting involuntarily and through fear.'

Facing jail: Monaghan, of Fort Augustus, was remanded in custody at the High Court in Edinburgh (pictured) after admitting to five charges of assaulting the boy in 2014 and 2015. A further hearing is set for July

Defence counsel Duncan McPhie asked for Monaghan's bail to be continued while reports are prepared ahead of sentencing.

He said she was effectively a first offender and added: 'The main reason for continuing bail is she is pregnant.'

The judge rejected the defence plea and said 'Realistically it would be very difficult to avoid custody in a case such as this. This was a toddler, a defenceless child.'