A jealous chef pinned a woman to the floor of a restaurant at knifepoint and told her he would slash her face to make her look like The Joker.
Dragos Henter pulled a kitchen knife with a 10-inch blade on his victim, a taxi driver, during a four-year campaign of bullying.
In another terrifying incident, the chef de partie grabbed the handbrake and steering wheel of her car repeatedly as she drove him from Dundee to Perth.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard she was so terrified of what her then-partner might do that when they went on a walk up Kinnoull Hill in Perth, she stayed away from the edge in case he shoved her over it.
Henter, who is now working in construction, admitted a series of charges against the woman, covering a period from Valentine’s Day 2018, until he was caught with a knuckle duster on January 28 2022.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael remanded him in custody for the preparation of social background reports after he admitted five charges.
Terrifying trip to Perth
Henter, 30, from Kelty, admitted assaulting the woman to her injury by punching her on the head in Glasgow in February 2018.
He admitted attacking her in Dundee later in 2018 by punching her on the body to her severe injury, and striking her on the head to her injury during the same year.
Henter admitted that between April 1 2019 and May 13 2020 he subjected her to a campaign of violent bullying and controlling behaviour.
Fiscal depute Gavin Burton told the court: “On a journey to go for a walk on Kinnoull Hill, he began grabbing the wheel of the car and threatening to make them crash.
“When they got to Kinnoull Hill, he asked about Billy, who was someone she had had a drink with.
“When they got to the top of the hill she made sure not to go near the edge because she was so worried about what he might do.
“He would constantly check up on her and monitor her movements when she was away from home.
“He would repeatedly call, wanting to know where she was.
“He would act aggressively and call her abusive names.
“He would threaten her with violence.
“On three occasions he smashed her phones when she got a message from a male asking for a taxi.
“She ended up buying cheap phones as she could not afford to keep replacing them.”
‘Joker’ threat
Mr Burton said in October 2019 she went out for drinks with another taxi driver.
She asked Henter for a lift home but he drove her to the Don Michele restaurant on Dundee’s Perth Road, where he worked at the time and opened it up to let them in.
“The accused went to the kitchen and came back with a knife with an eight-to-10-inch blade.
“He grabbed her hair with one hand and held the knife to her stomach and throat and threatened to stab her.”
During February 2020, she was parked in her taxi outside the restaurant when Henter came out and told her he would slash her if she spoke to other men.
Mr Burton said: “He said that if he ever saw her speaking to another male he would get a screwdriver from his car and slash her across the face to make her look like The Joker.
“This made her extremely distressed.”
Solicitor Ross Donnelly, defending, said Henter was realistic about the seriousness of his behaviour and his bail request was refused.
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