37 YEARS OF MARRIAGE TO THIS MONSTER
Sadist Ormond, 67, faces jail for sickening violence against his loyal wife
A HUSBAND from hell who battered his bride on their wedding day is facing jail for a 37-year reign of terror.
Brutal John Ormond was yesterday found guilty of 12 assaults on wife Linda.
His sadistic attacks had
Crime has no sell-by date in Scotland. It was a catalogue of abuse PROSECUTOR
begun before the pair were even married.
A year before their August 1980 wedding, Ormond broke Linda’s arm after he chased her, pushed her down and repeatedly kicked her.
Despite that, Linda, then 19, went through with the wedding – only to be attacked when they returned home from their reception.
Ormond, 11 years her senior, set about her, battering her and ripping her going-away outfit.
And in the decades that followed, she was repeatedly taken to hospital as a result of his assaults.
In heartbreaking evidence at Dundee Sheriff Court, she explained how she stuck with the bullying thug despite the horror start to the marriage and the many beatings that followed.
She said: “We were married in a church and I stuck to the vows as much as I could until I couldn’t take any more.”
Prosecutor Vicki Bell told the jury she believed that Linda was referring to having made the vow: “For better or for worse.”
Ormond, 67, was convicted after a four-day trial, during which the jury were told of Linda’s years of torment.
Nine years into the marriage, he brutally beat and kicked her on Christmas Day, leaving her with broken ribs.
But she covered up the abuse through fear and shame – refusing to tell doctors who treated her how she came by the injuries until decades later.
The court was told that Ormond “ruined everything - from holidays to Christmas” for his family for decades. He now faces years in jail. A sheriff told him he could expect a “substantial custodial sentence” and spoke of the “catastrophic consequences” for his wife because of his “appalling series of criminal conduct”.
Bell told the jury: “Crime has no sell-by date in Scotland.
“These crimes date back to the 70s. We are dealing with a catalogue of prolonged abuse.
“Many of the charges followed a similar pattern – he would come home from the pub, be heard coming up stairs then crash, bang, wallop.
“Look at how the attitudes in society have changed since the 70s.
“Back then, it was a case of what happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors.
“Back then, the police said he was the owner of the house and had nowhere to go so she had to let him back in.
“She says she married him because she loved him, pure and simple.
“She said, ‘I was 19, very young and silly and was ashamed to tell the truth. It was embarrassing to say I’d been assaulted. We were married in a church and I stuck to the vows as much as I could until I couldn’t take any more.’ For better or for worse is the vow I assume she refers to.
“The accused’s evidence was confused. He accepted there were arguments but denied violence.”
Defence advocate Jonathan Crowe urged jurors to acquit Ormond and claimed that there was “reasonable doubt” in the case.
He added: “You may have from the start had an overwhelming urge to find him guilty.
“From the moment you heard the indictment, you will have thought ‘What a terrible man that is sitting there.’
“He vehemently denies these allegations.”
Ormond, of Christies Lane, Montrose, denied a total of 15 charges of assault.
The jury took just two hours to find him guilty of 12 of them, with the remaining three not proven.
Crowe asked that Ormond be released on bail ahead of a later sentencing date. Sheriff Tom Hughes deferred sentence until next month and granted Ormond bail so he can “get his affairs in order” before he faces a lengthy jail term.
He said: “Anyone in your position must expect severe consequences from the court.
“When you come back to be sentenced, you will likely be facing a substantial custodial sentence.”
Ormond made no comment as he left court.