An Aberdeen photographer told a trial that he had only hit his girlfriend because she hit him first.
Sam Brill, 38, is charged with throttling his girlfriend to the point of unconsciousness and endangering her life while the couple were on a working holiday on the Isle of Skye.
The trial was previously shown photographs of the woman’s two black eyes and she told a jury how Brill had strangled her until she passed out.
On the second day of the trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, he took to the witness stand and insisted that his girlfriend acted violently before he “retaliated in defence”.
‘We were both not sober’
He told the jury that they had arrived at Turadh Cottage, near Dunvegan, at around 3pm on the day of the alleged assault.
He said the owners had commissioned him to take photos and drone footage of the holiday rental and had left out a bottle of Prosecco for them to enjoy.
His defence counsel, David Moggach KC, asked what effect the drinks had on the couple.
Brill replied: “We were both not sober. I’m quite a happy drunk, but [the complainer] can be quite abrasive at times.”
Mr Moggach asked how a row had later in the evening ensued and questioned if Brill had made comments about the woman’s size or weight, as she claimed in her evidence.
“She had been comparing herself to other girls on the TV,” Brill said.
“I didn’t call her chubby.
“She got kind of angry and she hit my face with a clenched fist.”
‘There was blood everywhere’
Brill then told the court he decided to leave the room and sit by himself in the bedroom to continue watching videos on his laptop.
“She grabbed a picture frame and hit me on the side at my ribs and then off the back of my head,” Brill said.
Mr Moggach asked, did she say anything to you?
“I can’t remember,” Brill replied. “I didn’t see her enter the room.”
Brill said the couple then began to struggle and his elbow hit the woman on the left side of her face.
“There was blood everywhere,” he continued. “Blood was coming from my head.
“I retaliated in defence. I was trying to get her off me.”
Brill said he held the woman down by her arms and Mr Moggach asked if she had said anything to him.
“It’s hard to remember,” Brill answered. “I had just been struck on the head – it’s all a blur.”
Sam Brill tells of ‘confusion and fear’
Brill told the court he managed to stop the cut on his head from bleeding by pressing a towel on it and went for a shower to clean himself up.
He then said the rest of the holiday was “surprisingly good”, with the pair going out for dinner and visiting the Fairy Pools the next day.
Under cross-examination by fiscal depute Dylan Middleton, Brill was asked if his memory of the night may have been affected by alcohol.
He replied: “I can’t remember – it was almost two years ago.
“Big parts of events I can remember – the argument wasn’t memorable.”
Mr Middleton asked what parts Brill was clear on and he said: “Being struck on the face.”
Accused denies kicking woman in stomach
Brill was asked what effect the punch to the face had on him, he replied: “Confusion and fear – when she gets drunk, she gets quite angry.”
Mr Middleton asked if he had sustained any injuries from the woman’s punch, he said he had not, adding: “I don’t think she is that physically strong.
“The next time I stopped it from happening – I defended myself.”
Mr Middleton suggested Brill’s memory of the incident was “vague” and asked if he had kicked his partner in the stomach.
“That did not happen,” he said. “I am the only person who is able to speak about it.”
Mr Middleton replied to say the female complainer had told the court about it herself and had said she was unable to breathe as Brill’s hands were around her throat and she had been gasping for breath.
Brill answered: “No. I can’t remember her gasping.”
Photographer admits breaching bail
Mr Middleton asked Brill about the recording from the night of the incident in which he can be heard fake laughing in reply to her allegations of strangulation.
Brill said: “I was drunk and mocking her. She had done the same to me.”
The court was shown text messages sent between the couple to each other after the trip to Skye and the woman tells him: “I was suicidal after Skye – I couldn’t get out of bed.”
Brill, of Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, replied: “I don’t remember Skye – I definitely blacked out.”
Brill was also facing a charge of breaching a bail condition of not approaching the woman but pled guilty to this today after conceding he had sent her text messages following his arrest.
Brill said the woman had made up the allegation “out of hate” after the couple separated in 2023, several months after the Skye trip.
In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Middleton urged them to convict Brill of the one remaining charge of assault to danger of life, saying the woman had been a compelling and credible witness.
“Are her injuries consistent with a tussle or a struggle as Mr Moggach has suggested? Or with a ‘fall’ as she told the police officer on Skye?
Jury urged to convict
“Brill had lodged a special defence of self-defence – but both positions cannot be true.
“He said in a message – ‘I definitely blacked out’ – he can’t have his cake and eat it. He either blacked out or he can’t remember.
“His lack of denial on the recording is evidential – and his lack of denial in Aberdeen on text messages.
“His position must be rejected and you must find him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
The defence will present their closing argument to the jury tomorrow.
The trial, being heard by Sheriff Graham Buchanan, continues.