A woman who claimed she was subjected to years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her husband has given a jury another cruel example of the control he exercised over her.
Marie Islam, 47, said that she desperately wanted to visit her sick mother but Konstanty Bembnista refused to let her go.
It happened after Mrs Islam, who was living with him at their Highland cottage home in the Caithness village of Lybster, had just spoken to her mother on the phone and realised her health was deteriorating.
Mrs Islam told Wick Sheriff Court: “Her memory was progressively worse every time I spoke to her…she hardly knew me any more. She had been living in Livingston but was in hospital. I said to Kon (Konstanty) that I needed to go to see my mother and that it might be the last time. I hadn’t seen her since my father’s funeral.”
Mrs Islam said that her husband seemed to be getting satisfaction at her becoming more and more upset and told her – “You are going nowhere, so you can get that out of your head.”
At that point, they were both sitting on a sofa and Mrs Islam said she was still talking about going to see her mother. Then Bembnista picked up a heavy cigarette box and beat her with it before dragging her across the floor where she was bitten by their two dogs which were hysterical. Later, the accused agreed to take her to the local doctor but told her to lie and say she had been attacked by a stray dog.
The jury heard previously that Bembnista, 68, had a short fuse and needed little excuse to get angry and violent. Mrs Islam said he smashed a plate over her on once occasion and would throw anything that came to hand, at her, including an encloypedia and glasses.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday.