An abusive partner who throttled his girlfriend and left her for dead on the bedroom floor has avoided a prison sentence.
Ryan Wilson, also known as Mearns, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted carrying out savage and prolonged domestic assaults on two former partners.
On one occasion, Wilson placed his hands around his ex-girlfriend’s throat and applied “tremendous pressure” to the point where the woman “believed she was going to die”.
Wilson, 27, let go and left the room, but when he returned moments later, he stated to the woman: “Oh, you’re still alive?”
She described living with Wilson as making her feel like “a prisoner” in her own home.
Wilson, who runs a business alongside operating his family’s farm, also admitted a series of assaults against a second woman between 2019 and 2020.
Assaulted two separate women
Fiscal depute David Rogers told the court that on the evening in September 2019, Wilson and his then partner had been arguing in the kitchen when she tried to leave for a cigarette.
Wilson took hold of her arm and dragged her back inside the property.
On two occasions after this, he grabbed her by the waist and threw her to the ground, causing her significant injury and leaving her with bruising across her body.
Wilson started a relationship with a second woman at some point in late 2020, which was also marred by physical violence.
On one occasion on July 17 2021, Wilson grabbed the woman’s phone and smashed it off a wall when she declared she was going to call her mother.
He then grabbed her by the hair and dragged his girlfriend off a bed where he tried to place his hands around her throat.
During a prolonged struggle, the woman was able to fight him off but sustained a black eye, a cut to her eyebrow and her body was left covered in bruises.
Wilson then refused to allow her to leave the property, which she described as making her feel like “a prisoner”.
Victim ‘could not breathe’
A week later, on July 23, the couple were having drinks in their garden when Wilson began to call the woman “annoying”, which prompted her to get up and walk off towards the house.
Wilson followed her inside where she had been arranging things for his upcoming birthday, such as a cake and balloons.
When she asked Wilson to help her with an aspect of the arrangements, he grabbed her mobile phone and threw it outside into a bush.
His girlfriend became upset and went to the bedroom where he then climbed on top of her on the floor and placed his hands around her neck and squeezed.
“The accused applied tremendous pressure to the complainer’s neck to the point she could not breathe,” Mr Rogers said, adding: “The complainer believed she was going to die as a result.”
Wilson continued to throttle the woman for a period before releasing his grip and left the room, the fiscal said.
He returned to the room a short time later and looked down at his partner as she lay on the floor and stated: “Oh, you’re still alive?”
The woman called the police when Wilson left the property soon after.
She attended Aberdeen Royal Infirmary the next day where she sustained a concussion and had to get stitches to her left eyebrow.
The woman then went to Nelson Street Police Station in Aberdeen where the officers photographed “significant bruising” on her neck that was consistent with compression.
Bruising was also found on both her arms and her back.
In the dock, Wilson, of Main Street, Alford, pleaded guilty to one charge of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive to his partner and assaulting her to her injury.
He also admitted a second charge of engaging in a course of behaviour that was abusive to another ex-girlfriend and assaulting her to her injury and to the danger of her life.
‘He is really disgusted by what he did’
Liam Mcallister, Wilson’s defence solicitor, acknowledged that his client’s behaviour had been “horrendous” but said he was “of a young age” at the time of these offences.
“He has had to reflect on his attitude since this incident and the abhorrent nature of his behaviour,” Mr Mcallister said.
“Mr Wilson has expressed genuine remorse, and he has done a lot of growing up – he is really disgusted by his what he did.
“He accepts that he has caused great distress to many, but he is young enough to put this behind him and move on.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Wilson that “these are serious matters” – particularly the incident where he “placed his hands around the woman’s neck and squeezed”.
“That’s a very significant matter indeed and one where the court would often feel compelled to impose a custodial sentence,” the sheriff said.
“But certain aspects have convinced me that a prison sentence is not the way to go because you have grown and matured since these offences took place.”
Sheriff Buchanan said with “some degree of hesitation” he would make Wilson subject to a community payback order with supervision for two years as an alternative to a prison sentence.
Wilson was also ordered to take part in a domestic abuse programme and made to carry out 130 hours of unpaid work.
The sheriff also made Wilson subject to a non-harassment order for life in respect to one of the victims, meaning he cannot ever approach her.
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