Thug jailed for Halloween horror attack on partner

A Stirling man who pulled hair off the back of his partner’s head in a blind rage was sent to prison for nine months.

His victim Angela Turner said this week she had been terrified by Samuel Murphy’s behaviour at his Ochil Crescent home on October 31 and the jail term was not long enough.

Forty-five-year-old Murphy was found guilty on Monday following a summary trial at Stirling Sheriff Court on a charge of assault aggravated by abuse of a partner or ex-partner.

He had seized Ms Turner (43) by the hair and pulled her by the hair while shouting and swearing at her and making threats.

She said this week:“I was in fear for my life that night. I was terrified.

“I feel I have to speak out and let other women know about what he is capable of. He could do the same thing again.

“The sentence isn’t long enough. His anger was uncontrolled. He should have received a sentence of two to three years rather than months.”

Giving evidence from behind a screen, she told the court she had been in a relationship with the accused for a year at the time of the attack.

She said Murphy had been drinking all day and had returned home at 6pm in an aggressive mood, smelling of alcohol.

The accused, she said, started to abuse her and called her lazy.

When she came out of the toilet Murphy grabbed her hair at the back of her head and shouted at her.

Fiscal depute Gail Russell asked Ms Turner what kind of force was used when Murphy grabbed her hair.

She said it was hard and sore.

Ms Russell also asked Ms Turner if there had been any discussion before Murphy grabbed her.

She explained that Murphy’s outburst had been sparked when she asked him if he had sent a card to his mother for her birthday on November 4.

She estimated he had hold of her hair for about five minutes. Ms Russell asked Mr Turner how the assault made her feel. She replied:“Bad”.

When he pulled her hair out Ms Turner’s neighbour came to the door. She said when she went to the door her hair was“falling out”.

Shocked, she then went to her neighbour’s home. She also said Murphy had been banging his forehead off wood in a bedroom of the property. The fiscal depute asked her how Murphy’s behaviour made her feel that night. Ms Turner responded: “Scared”. Sheriff James Macdonald found Murphy guilty and sentenced him to nine months’imprisonment.