Man strangled his partner after uneaten wedding meal row

Kenneth Hastie lost the plot at his girlfriend following the his brother’s wedding reception at Dundee’s Apex Hotel.

His partner left the do at 10pm following a row - but got home and discovered Hastie had the keys to their flat in Tayport.

She called Hastie and asked him to come home - prompting a massive row when he arrived at the property.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court that once they got inside Hastie launched a vicious assault on his partner.

Miss Bell said: “Neighbours heard shouting and swearing on and off for about an hour.

“They believed this shouting was coming from the bedroom.

“They also heard the accused shouting and calling the complainer ‘ugly’.

“At 11pm the accused came into the bedroom and put the light on, pulling the bed covers off the complainer.

“She was still wearing her dress from the wedding and the accused told her to get changed.

“He climbed on top of her and placed his hand over her mouth and she was unable to breathe.

“He began to shout at her telling her to get changed into her pyjamas or he would put them on for her.

“He then placed his hands around her neck and held them there for about one minute.

“When he let go she text her brother asking him to phone.

“He did and she was hysterical and could hear a disturbance.

“He told the complainer to lock herself in the bathroom which she did.

“She sat with her back against the bathroom door and her feet up against the radiator in front of her.

“The accused then punched a hole in the bathroom door and put his hand through and was trying to grab the complainer by the hair whilst shouting ‘where are you?’

“Her brother arrived and found her with bruising on her neck, lumps on her forehead and a cut on her shoulder.

“The accused was found sitting in the flat and was described as looking ‘as cool as a cucumber’.

“He said there had been an argument about her leaving the wedding early, only eating one course of food at the wedding and forgetting to take her keys when she left.”

Hastie (23), of Commercial Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of assault to injury committed on August 8 last year.

Defence solicitor John Boyle said: “They hope to reconcile - but whether that is as friends or partners remains to be seen.

“They have a son together.”

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael imposed an eight-month restriction of liberty order, confining Hastie to his home between 7pm and 7am every day and forcing him to wear an electronic tag.

Hastie will also be under supervision by social workers for a year.