An “unhinged” St Andrews university student who held a knife to his flatmate’s throat during a terrifying rampage had his sentencing delayed due to Storm Isha.
Ewan Harvey was previously found guilty of chasing the woman and pouring vodka into her eyes before shutting her in a room and starting a fire.
During a trial, Harvey claimed some of his flatmates had conspired against him.
However, he was found guilty by Sheriff Eric Brown who said the geography student’s version of events was “unconvincing and self-serving”.
As Storm Isha made its presence felt across the UK, Harvey was unable to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday due to travel issues.
Defence solicitor Theo Finlay said Harvey, living in London, was unable to appear due to trains being suspended “north of Newcastle”.
Sheriff Brown deferred sentence until March.
‘Unhinged’ student caused knife terror
Harvey, 25, was convicted of carrying out offences between September 10 and November 28 2020 in the university town.
Sebastian Flame, a fellow student, had described how Harvey had been showing off in front of other students but things took a sinister turn when he grabbed a knife.
Mr Flame said of October 3 incident the woman had been on his lap and told him to give up the blade.
“Ewan started chasing her round the table with the knife.
“Ewan was a bit crazy – it was probably part of the act he was trying to portray.
“It was very crazy and alarming.”
He said: “He then put the knife to her throat. It was about one centimetre away.
“It was not touching her but it was very close. It lasted five to ten seconds.
“I think he then put the knife on the table because at that point everyone was shouting at him to put the knife down.
“He was unhinged.”
Guilty
Harvey, formerly of Laurencekirk, was eventually chucked out of the St Andrews flat over fears for the victim’s safety.
He was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner on October 3, culpably and recklessly setting fire to an empty chocolate bag until the fire took hold on November 10.
He was convicted of a November 28 assault in North Street, when he pushed the woman into a wall and poured vodka into her eyes.
On the same date, he assaulted her by throwing a glass bowl at her, placed her in a chokehold and punched and kicked her to her injury.
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