1 week Ago By Jenni Gee
A man assaulted his partner and knelt on her neck until she passed out, a court has heard. William MacFarlane attacked the women in her own home, in an assault that was witnessed by her mother via video call. When the mother begged MacFarlane to stop, he told her: “I don’t give a f***.
” MacFarlane, 25, appeared from custody at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of assault to injury and danger of life at an address in Inverness on June 20 of last year. Fiscal depute Susan Love told the court that it was around 8pm when the pair began to argue. The woman called her mother and said she wanted MacFarlane to leave but he was refusing.
The mother told MacFarlane to leave or she would call the police. “At this time her mother heard the accused shouting and the call then ended,” Ms Love said. When the mum called back the call was answered and she heard her daughter shouting “Out!” before the call ended again.
The court heard that, at this point MacFarlane grabbed the woman by the hair and punched her on the head and body, knocking her to the ground, where he continued to shout at her before headbutting her. ‘Wake up! Wake up!’ “The next thing she remembers is the accused shouting at her to ‘Wake up! Wake up!” the fiscal depute told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald. “She shouted for help, but the accused continued to kick her to the stomach.
She pleaded for the accused to stop but he continued on his assault. “He has placed his hand around her neck and applied pressure and then placed his knee on her neck and applied pressure,” Ms Love said. The court heard that it was at this point that the victim lost consciousness.
The woman woke to MacFarlane trying to rouse her, after which “he has continued to assault her by punching her”. The woman managed to initiate a video call to her mother, who described seeing the accused “lunging toward her daughter and grabbing her by the hair” before the camera view was obstructed. The mother heard her daughter “screaming for help” and shouted at the accused to stop telling him: “You have done enough.
” MacFarlane replied: “I don’t give a f***,” and the call ended soon after. She received one more call from her daughter who was in a “distressed state” and “appeared to be struggling to stay awake”. Ms Love explained that the victim’s mother contacted police and family members to go to her daughter’s aid.
When a family member arrived at the property they found the victim who “appeared shaken” with bruises and swelling to her head. Victim was ‘struggling to walk’ As he removed her from the property for her own safety he had to hold her up and carry her as she was “struggling to walk”. Police arrived and entered the property.
MacFarlane was not there and a window was open. The woman, who was “dropping in and out of consciousness” was taken to Raigmore Hospital for treatment. MacFarlane was later traced and arrested.
Solicitor Pauline Chapman, for MacFarlane, confirmed that her client was currently serving a sentence for a similar charge and reserved any comments in mitigation for the sentencing hearing. Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told MacFarlane, of Mackay Road, Inverness: “You have pled guilty to an extremely serious offence. “It is probably inevitable that I’m going to be imposing a prison sentence.
” The case will call for sentencing next month..
