A tattooed control freak who targeted his vicious attacks on his partner so that the bruises would be hidden under her clothes and out of sight of her family and friends has been freed after appeal judges overturned his prison sentence.
Daniel Mudie subjected two women to horrendous abuse – choking one until she fell unconscious in an attack that a sheriff described as being “reminiscent of a pack animal asserting dominance”.
The calculating thug also attacked one of his victims in a way deliberately designed to keep her injuries hidden under her clothes so her family and friends wouldn’t see them.
In another incident the second woman – then pregnant – was repeatedly spat on by vile Mudie, who then pushed her over causing her to fall on her stomach.
The jobless thug – who has previous convictions for assault to severe injury and for domestic assault – was told he had “blamed his victims” for the abuse they suffered when he was handed the lengthy sentence in August.
A sheriff sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in jail for the “ongoing emotional and manipulative abuse” he had subjected the women to.
But judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh last week quashed that sentence – and imposed a community payback order as an alternative.
Campaigners blasted the decision to release the brutal abuser.
Sinead Daly, of the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dundee said Mudie’s release was “very disappointing”.
She said: “It is very disappointing given the prevalence of domestic abuse in our society.
“What kind of message does this send out to women who have suffered this kind of abuse?
“I think he should be doing his term. It’s all about the severity of the crime.
“So much domestic abuse goes unreported because of the level of coercive control.
“He should be seen to serve that sentence as a message to others and to the women who are suffering already.”
A source close to the case added: “The initial jail term was very harsh – that’s why he appealed.
“But the expectation was that he might get some time taken off the prison sentence – not that he’d be released outright.”
No reasons for the decision have yet been published by the appeal court – but it has been confirmed that Mudie will now be under supervision for two years and perform 200 hours of unpaid work on a community payback order.
When he pled guilty in the summer fiscal depute John Adams told Dundee Sheriff Court that the first series of attacks took place while he was in a relationship with a woman for around five years.
He said: “After a period of time he became controlling and started assaulting her as well as remarking negatively on her appearance, which hit her confidence.
“He was frequently violent towards her.
“Police were contacted many times but she never proceeded with a complaint against him, but when contacted in 2016 as part of an investigation into him gave a statement.
“During their time together he once grabbed her by the throat and attempted to strangle her, causing her to pass out.
“He would punch her, pinned her against a wall and pushed her down stairs.
“After the assaults he would say things like ‘look what you made me do’ and ‘if you never opened your gob this would never have happened’.
“Her daughter from a previous relationship saw the violence from the ages of five to 10.
“The complainer states the accused would try to hide the abuse by assaulting her on parts of the body where the injuries could not be seen.
“She states she often had bruises and marks on her body.
“The second woman began a relationship with him in March 2010.
“Throughout the relationship he would often threaten to commit suicide, was very controlling and tried to isolate her from friends on family.
“He constantly accused her of cheating on him.
“She recalls an incident during her pregnancy to him when the accused was spitting on her face.
“He then pushed her forcefully back causing her to fall on her stomach on the sofa.”
Mudie, 35, of Foundry Lane, Dundee, pleaded guilty to charges of assault to injury committed between January 2004 and March 2009, and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner and assault committed between April 2010 and October 2012.
Defence solicitor John Boyle said: “At that time he had been taking stimulants to allow him to keep drinking.
“He has little recollection of these incidents because of the amount of alcohol he was taking.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Mudie for four-and-a-half years – and said it would have been six years but for his early guilty plea.
He said: “This was ongoing emotional and manipulative abuse as well as physical abuse in both cases.
“You isolated your partners, you made demeaning remarks about their appearance causing a loss of confidence.
“You blamed them for what happened – saying ‘if you kept your gob shut I wouldn’t have to hit you’.
“You chose your target so the bruises wouldn’t show.
“In the case of the second complainer you justified what you did by making accusations that she had been unfaithful without any justification.
“That emotional manipulation is a very serious component of what you did.
“And it is particularly concerning that you attempted to strangle the first complainer. I regard that as a particularly serious aspect of domestic assault.”