Man behind bars after subjecting his wife to decades of torment

Abuse dating back to the ‘70s included attack during pregnancy

A husband from hell who set the tone for decades of married misery by battering his bride on their wedding day was yesterday jailed for three years.

John Ormond put wife Linda – who he was married to for 35 years – through decades of torment with repeated attacks that often hospitalised her.

In evidence at a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court she told how Ormond even set about her after they returned home from their wedding in August 1980 – battering her and ripping her “going away” outfit.

He also abused her when she was pregnant, seizing her by the hair and pulling her from their bed. She was taken to hospital the next day and later gave birth to stillborn twins.

She told jurors she stuck by Ormond despite the horrific start to their marriage because “we were married in a church and I stuck to the vows as much as I could until I couldn’t take any more”.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told the jury: “For better or for worse is the vow I assume she refers to.”

Dundee Sheriff Court heard Ormond and his wife separated in 2005 before finally divorcing in 2015.

His advocate yesterday told a court he still denies the offences.

The trial heard that a year before their wedding Ormond broke Linda’s arm. Despite that, she went through with the wedding – only to be attacked when they returned home from their reception.

Ormond then subjected her to years of torment – on one occasion, nine years into their marriage, brutally beating her and kicking her on Christmas Day, leaving her with broken ribs.

But she covered up the abuse – refusing to tell doctors how she came by the injuries until decades later.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told the jury: “Crime has no sell-by date in Scotland. These crimes date back to the 1970s. We are dealing with a catalogue of prolonged abuse.”

Ormond, 67, of Christies Lane, Montrose, denied a total of 15 charges of assault on Linda and a child.

A jury of seven men and seven women took just two hours to find him guilty of 12 of the charges, with the remaining three not proven.

The offences were committed between 1979 and 2004.

Sheriff Tom Hughes jailed Ormond for three years and imposed a one-year supervised release order to monitor him when he is freed. He said: “You were convicted of some quite appalling conduct.”

Crimehasno sell-by date in Scotland. These crimes date back to the 1970s. We are dealing witha catalogue of prolonged abuse. FISCAL DEPUTE VICKI BELL

John Ormond, 67, was jailed for three years.