A Fife tiler repeatedly seized a woman by the neck and threatened to pour acid on her during an 11-month campaign of domestic abuse.
Kenneth Watson also stabbed his victim’s mattress, slit her sofa and urinated on her floor while she was on a night out with friends in Perth – after she had ended their relationship.
On another occasion he made threats to send a video of her to her employer, claiming he would end her career.
The 32-year-old appeared from custody at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to engaging in a course of abusive behaviour between February 1 and December 31 2022.
Sheriff Susan Duff jailed him for 18 months and told him: “You present a danger to women who enter intimate relationships with you and undoubtedly caused physical and psychological injury to this woman.”
Violence and assaults
Prosecutor Douglas Thomson told the court Watson would demand to know the woman’s mobile PIN and regularly check her phone as he believed she was cheating on him.
The fiscal depute said: “On occasions where they would argue, the accused would call her and leave voicemails, threatening to pour acid on her and destroy her life and career.”
In March 2022, Watson punched a hole in the wall of an Edinburgh hotel room in which the woman was staying for a training course.
Hotel staff contacted her employer about the damage, leaving her fearing for her job.
In October of that year, Watson demanded her phone but she refused to give him the PIN.
The fiscal depute said: “He threw the phone at her, hitting her in the head with it before it fell to the ground and smashed.
“He then grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against the wall and lifted her off her feet, which caused her to struggle to breathe.
“He then threw her onto the bed, because of which she hit her head on the bedside cabinet, before straddling her and seizing her by the neck again.”
She managed to break free after “some time struggling,” the fiscal said.
Video threat
On November 6 2022 the woman told Watson she was ending their relationship and he said he would leave that day but he stayed and “grabbed her by the throat” when she asked him to get out.
During a subsequent message exchange between the pair, Watson threatened to send a video he had to her employer in an effort to sabotage her career.
He used various mobile numbers to contact her as she would block him on each occasion.
The fiscal said: “As a result of being unable to contact her, he began to transfer her money from his personal banking account on three occasions with the reference for the transactions saying ‘unblock so reply,’ ‘phone or I send now’ and ‘hahaha'”.
The woman ignored this.
House invasion
On November 26 2022 he threatened to self-harm so she stayed in touch for a few days but in the early hours of December 4, she returned home from a night out in Perth to find her bedroom wrecked..
The fiscal depute continued: “On closer inspection, she noticed three puncture marks through the duvet and mattress, likely to have been caused by a sharp implement, as well as water being spilled all over the bed.
“She also noticed tile spacers in the floor, which she knew belonged to the accused as he was a tiler and always carried them.
“She then noticed urine all over the bathroom floor and also saw a slit mark on the arm of her sofa, which also appeared to have been caused by a sharp implement.”
The fiscal said this left the woman “hysterical” and she fled the house.
She messaged Watson and he responded with voicemails stating he would ensure the damage was repaired.
Six days later she was on a Christmas work day out in Edinburgh and received 40 calls with ‘no caller ID’ over a four-hour period.
Watson left threatening voicemails in which he repeatedly asked her if she had called police.
‘I feel like a scumbag’
Defence lawyer David Storrie said his client had abused illicit drugs and alcohol, coupled with PTSD.
“He states to the author of a (social work) report that he regrets his actions and is ashamed of his behaviour.
“In his words, ‘I feel like a scumbag’.”
The solicitor said should Watson be released on a community order, he would stay at an address specifically for veterans, which is effectively supported accommodation.
Sheriff Duff highlighted Watson repeatedly seized his victim’s neck and restricted her breathing and said the offences were too serious not to attract a prison term.
Watson has previous domestically-aggravated convictions.
The sheriff said the starting point for his sentence would be three years but she took into account his guilty plea and 216 days already spent on remand.
A three-year non-harassment order was imposed.
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