Abuser banned from talking to wife he beat up

COURT: Jail for 34-year-old who broke jaw of spouse in front of her horrified daughter

A husband has been banned from speaking to his wife for 15 years after knocking her out as her nine-year-old daughter watched in horror.

James Christie was also jailed for 29 months after the daughter accompanied her mother to report the attack to the police more than a decade later.

Christie also had one of the longest non-harassment orders ever imposed as he was banned from speaking to or going near his estranged wife until 2035.

Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court: “In 2006 they met and entered a relationship. Later they married and he moved in with her and her daughter.

“She and her daughter were in the bedroom with their dog. The accused entered after drinking and he was demanding the puppy.

“He went to get the dog and the complainer told him to go to bed. He punched her on the face, causing her to lose consciousness, and she fell on to her daughter’s bed.

“The accused removed the puppy and left the locus. The daughter was concerned for her mother who was unconscious. An ambulance attended.”

Mrs Christie suffered a broken jaw, eye socket and cheekbone and was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for emergency surgery.

Despite being left scarred for life, Mrs Christie did not report the attack to police and she carried on in the marriage for a further decade, until May last year.

After they separated, Christie phoned her several times begging for her to take him back.

When she turned him down he started issuing death threats.

Christie told his estranged wife he was going to kill her and her parents but her daughter was using her mobile phone to record the stream of vile calls.

He shouted: “I’m going to stab you. You’re dead next time I see you. I’m going to snap the dog’s neck.”

The court was told Mrs Christie was accompanied to the police station by her daughter, now aged 20, and they reported him.

Christie, 34, from Aberfeldy, admitted assaulting and severely injuring Caroline Christie on February 21 2009 by punching her and causing her to lose consciousness.

He also admitted calling her on December 6 2019 and threatening to kill her and her parents.

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “He had harboured hopes of a reconciliation. There will now be a divorce.

“She recognises that when her husband has taken alcohol or drugs his behaviour was radically different to when he was not intoxicated.”

James Christie was locked up for 29 months for assault.