Woman tells attack trial she was too scared to call cops

A woman who claims she was made to act like a dog and forced to eat her eyelashes by her ex has said she feared he would kill her and her family if she told police.

B e au t y therapist Danielle Dodds alleges her waist-length hair was hacked off with a knife during a prolonged assault at the hands of former fiancé Garry McNeill.

She claims McNeill carried out a “torturous” assault on her that left her covered in bruises and suffering from a burst lip.

And, during a third day on the witness stand at Paisley Sheriff Court, she said she did not report the incident to police at first because she feared he would kill her and her family.

McNeill, 32, is on trial at Paisley Sheriff Court accused of assaulting Miss Dodds at her home in Linwood on Bonfire Night last year.

The

c o u r t h e a rd previously that Dodds managed to escape from her flat after McNeill fell asleep.

She contacted her friend and then phoned police.

When asked by defence solicitor Rhona Lynch, representing McNeill, why she “had to be persuaded to go to the police”, she replied: “Because Garry had asked me not to go to the police and he had told me previously that I was a grass and no one would believe me.

“He said he was going to kill me and my family and would harm my friends, so I was scared to go to the police.”

When asked if she had been drinking on the night in question, Miss Dodds said she could not remember and, when asked to clarify for Miss Lynch, she replied: “You know what, if it helps your defence, let’s just say I did.”

Sheriff Colin Pettigrew then reminded her that she had taken an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” and asked her: “What am I to make of that response?”

She replied: “I apologise for that.

“I’m just beginning to get extremely frustrated with this entire process.”

And, when asked why parts of the assault she had spoken about in court were not in her police statement, she replied: “That is a summary.

“I had a split lip - I told the officer about that.”

Miss Dodds claims McNeill pulled out her eyelashes and eyebrows, twisted her arm up her back, put his hands on her throat and shoved a blanket down her throat to stop her breathing and make her choke

She also said he asked her if she would like a haircut, grabbed her “by the top knot” and forced her on to her knees before walking her to her kitchen, where he hacked off her hair with a knife while asking if he was “a good hairdresser.”

McNeill, of Glasgow, maintains his innocence and the trial, before Sheriff Colin Pettigrew, will resume later this year.