An Angus man put a knife in his girlfriend’s hand, held it against his own throat, and told her “if I’m going to die, you need to die too”.
Robert Reid then choked her until she lost consciousness.
The 22-year-old pled guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend of five years.
He admitted he left the woman bruised and with ruptured blood vessels on the whites of her eyes after a ruthless attack at their home in Kirriemuir‘s Sidlaw Range.
Violent attack
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the woman returned home from a night shift just after 8am on January 21 last year.
She asked Reid why he was not going to work and he said he had consumed alcohol and cocaine the night before and was not in a fit state.
Both became upset and Reid went into the kitchen and picked up a knife.
He grabbed his partner by her hair and pushed her against a living room wall.
He thrust the knife into her hand and wrapped her fingers around the handle.
Reid then took her hand and placed the knife against his own throat, before asking her to kill him.
She told him to stop and put the knife down.
The woman moved to the kitchen and Reid pushed her on the body, causing her to fall to the floor.
While she was on the ground, Reid placed both hands around her throat and began to strangle her.
As he choked her, Reid said: “If I’m going to die, you need to die too.”
She kicked and grabbed at his hair but eventually lost consciousness “for an unknown period of time”.
Police called
When she woke up, Reid was no longer on top of her and she ran past him as she fled the property.
He followed her outside and grabbed her by her jumper, pulling her back towards the house.
After struggling, Reid eventually lifted her up and threw her inside.
Concerned neighbours phoned for police to attend and officers found a tearful Reid inside, as well as his injured girlfriend in another room.
She had bruising on her eyelid and neck as well as red spots on the whites of her eyes.
Sentencing was deferred on self-employed Reid for a social worker to interview him and for a restriction of liberty order assessment.
Sheriff Paul Brown told first offender Reid: “I’ll obviously need reports,” before releasing him on bail.
“It’s a very serious offence,” he added.
