Almost strangled wife in e-cig row
Spouse’s support saves husband from jail
A cattleman who halfstrangled his wife in an argument over his e-cigarette dodged jail on Wednesday.
John Branagh, 25, knocked Sheree, 28, against a door, grabbed her by the throat and squeezed until she struggled to breathe.
She was left covered in bruises which medics said indicated an attack so forceful she could have died.
Prosecutor Graham McLachlan said the married couple, who had been together for six years and had a five-year-old son, had fallen out at their home in Cambusbarron after a night alone together watching TV.
He said: “At 1am, during the course of an ongoing argument, Sheree Branagh had thrown the accused’s vaping device.
“That seems to have been the start of something because the accused responded by seizing the complainer by the neck.
“This caused her to strike her head on a nearby door, and she fell to the ground.
“While she was on the ground the accused compressed her throat, which restricted her breathing.
“She relates telling him she couldn’t breathe, but he held her in that position for about five seconds.”
When Branagh did release his grip, his wife, “fearful that he might continue to cause issues and disturb the neighbours”, left him and went to sleep in the other bedroom.
Mr McLachlan said: “On waking up she showed him her injuries and told him what he had done.”
Branagh left the house and texted Sheree: “I don’t remember doing it. All I know is it happened. I can’t take it back. I’m sorry for it. Now it’s all down to what you do next.”
The mother-of-one went to her own mother’s, who noticed she had two black eyes and bruises to her neck.
A friend took her to Stirling Police Station, where police noted bruising on both sides of her neck.
Mr McLachlan said: “The marks showed three distinctive bruises on one side, which looked like finger marks, and she had two black eyes.”
Sheree was taken to hospital, where she was assessed as having had concussion.
She also had “extensive” bruising to her face and the back of her throat, bilateral haematoma to the eyes, and other signs indicative of strangulation.
Mr McLachlan said: “A forensic medical examiner concluded it had the potential to be a danger to life.”
Branagh, a cattlemart yardman, of Balfour Street, Stirling, pleaded guilty to assaulting Sheree to the danger of her life at their home in Clayhills Drive, Cambusbarron, on January 27, 2018 - seizing her by the throat causing her to strike her head on a door and fall to the ground, compressing her throat, restricting her breathing, and kicking her on the body.
Defence solicitor Alastair Ross said his client was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and depression, was a first offender, and his wife did not want him jailed.
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson told Branagh the incident had been of “considerable gravity”, but of relatively short duration.
Sentencing him to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum that can be imposed – and placing him under supervision for three years, Sheriff Robertson said it had been partly the attitude of his wife, “notwithstanding what happened to her”, that had saved him from jail.
He said in a case of assault to danger of life, custody was normally “at the forefront of the court’s consideration”, but Sheree’s attitude, coupled with Branagh’s lack of previous offending and the fact that he had pleaded guilty at an early stage, allowed him to impose a non-custodial alternative.
Forensic medical examiner concluded it had the potential to be a danger to life