A boyfriend punched his girlfriend’s face as she begged him to stop choking her – inflicting a swollen eye, bleeding nose and burst lip.
Jamie Bruce had a row with his girlfriend following a night of drinking together, which led to her slapping him and going to sleep on the sofa.
But the 34-year-old went after the woman, pushing her onto the sofa and choking her for 10 seconds – causing her to be unable to breathe.
As the woman pleaded with him to get off and stop hurting her, Bruce then punched her.
She suffered a swollen and bruised eye, bleeding nose and burst lip on February 24 this year, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Woman ‘could not breathe’
Fiscal depute Tom Procter said the couple had been in a relationship since January last year.
He explained that the pair had been drinking together at Bruce’s Aberdeen home before they both went to bed the next morning.
Around 10am, the woman went to use the bathroom and woke Bruce to speak to him when she returned.
“An argument ensued whereby the complainer slapped the accused and left the bedroom to go and sleep on the sofa”, Mr Procter said.
“As she was walking to the living room, the accused followed her and pushed her onto the sofa, pinned her to it, gripped her neck with his left hand and compressed for around 10 seconds.
“The complainer could not breathe for this period but did not lose consciousness.
“She advised the accused he was hurting her and to get off, to which the accused punched her once to the left side of the face.”
The woman was left with swelling and bruising to her left eye, a bleeding nose and a “burst” lip.
Pled guilty to charge
Bruce, of Manor Crescent, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a domestically aggravated charge of assault to injury.
Sheriff Ian Wallace deferred sentence on Bruce until next month for reports.
And Bruce’s defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt reserved mitigation until the hearing next month.
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