A woman who had recently miscarried was subjected to a “brutal” and “sustained” attack by her drug and alcohol-fuelled partner.
Dean Ritchie also left another woman unconscious during the violent episode at a house party in Dundee.
Ritchie repeatedly punched and kicked both women on the head, leaving them with severe bruising.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Ritchie suddenly “flipped” after abusing substances throughout the night.
It was revealed how the other woman – a family friend – tried to shield Ritchie’s ex-partner from being subjected to further blows.
The family friend’s blood was found on Ritchie’s top with the brazen thug telling officers it was as a result of him having a nosebleed.
Ritchie, 28, is now banned from contacting his ex-partner for a decade after being locked up for 36 months.
Flipped after becoming intoxicated
Prosecutor Jennifer Bairner detailed how Ritchie – who has a previous conviction for abusive behaviour towards her – was in a relationship with the woman for around eight years.
Days before the attack, the woman learned she had miscarried but Ritchie denied being aware of this.
Ms Bairner said: “There was a gathering and the accused turned up at 4pm sober. He started drinking and was eventually intoxicated.
“The accused, the complainer and another woman were in the kitchen in the early hours.
“Out of nowhere, the accused flipped and began to punch and grab her.
“She does not know what caused it. She fell to the ground and was forcibly punched, kicked and stamped on.”
Ritchie then grabbed the woman’s head and struck it off a hard surface.
The court heard how his ex-partner drifted in and out of consciousness during Ritchie’s brutal assault.
Victim impact statement
Ms Bairner added: “He attacked the other witness and repeatedly punched and kicked her on the head and body.
“She remembers trying to shield the other woman from the accused’s blows.”
The other woman staggered out of the address concussed in a desperate effort to tell neighbours about the attack.
She managed to “pull herself” upstairs to tell her partner who was sleeping upstairs with earplugs in.
Ritchie fled the scene and was later traced by police with blood on his clothing.
“The accused said he had no knowledge of the incident and the blood was caused by a nosebleed,” Ms Bairner said.
The court was provided with a victim impact statement from Ritchie’s ex-partner who said she still suffers from severe mental health issues as a result of the attack.
A ‘highly dangerous’ attack
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael was also presented with a book of photographs detailing women’s injuries.
Ritchie, of Ashford, Kent, previously pled guilty to attacking both women to their injury on September 11 2022.
Solicitor Jim Laverty said Ritchie is now in a new relationship after moving to England.
He urged the sheriff to impose a stringent community payback order in order to fully rehabilitate his client.
Mr Laverty said: “He accepted that he was incredibly ashamed and embarrassed of the assaults that he committed that particular evening.
“He also indicated to me that although wholly accepting that it was not excusable, he had taken drink to excess and there had been the use of illicit substances.
“His memory in relation to the exact sequence of events was somewhat cloudy.”
Mr Laverty accepted that his client had “deflected his responsibility” in an interview with a social worker.
“You have pled guilty to two dreadful assaults on two women that you knew,” Sheriff Carmichael told Ritchie.
“One of them was your then-partner who had recently miscarried.
“The other was a family friend. These assaults involved punching and kicking them on the head.
“A kick to the head a highly dangerous attack because you can’t, with any confidence, know what the damage will be to this vital area of the human body.
“Both women were unconscious for periods of time because of these assaults.
“The photographs of these injuries show that these assaults were both brutal and sustained.”
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