Man, 22, throttled partner

AN Angus man put a knife in his girlfriend’s hand, held it against his own throat, and told her: “If I’m going to die, you need to die, too.”

Robert Reid, 22, then choked her until she lost consciousness.

He pled guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend of five years.

He admitted he left the woman bruised and with ruptured blood vessels on the whites of her eyes after a ruthless attack at their home in Kirriemuir’s Sidlaw Range.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard the woman returned home from a night shift just after 8am on January 21 last year.

She asked Reid why he was not going to work and he said he had consumed alcohol and cocaine, and was not in a fit state.

Both became upset and Reid picked up a knife.

He grabbed his partner and pushed her against a wall. He thrust the knife into her hand, before asking her to kill him.

The woman moved away and Reid pushed her on the body, causing her to fall to the floor.

While she was on the ground, Reid placed both hands around her throat and began to strangle her.

As he choked her, Reid said: “If I’m going to die, you need to die too.”

She kicked and grabbed at his hair but eventually lost consciousness “for an unknown period of time.”

Concerned neighbours called the police.

Reid’s girlfriend had bruising on her eyelid and neck as well as red spots on the whites of her eyes.

Sentence was deferred on self-employed Reid for a social worker to interview him and for a restriction of liberty order assessment. He was released on bail.

Sheriff Paul Brown told first-offender Reid: “It’s a very serious offence.”

Robert Reid.