Kenneth Douglas threw the axe onto the bed and his partner ended up sitting on the weapon to stop him from picking it up and doing anything else with it, a court heard
A jealous thug threw an axe at his girlfriend before barricading her in his home after falling for spam emails that made him believe she was cheating on him.
Kenneth Douglas gained access to Nicola Marshall’s iPad and believed junk emails that referred to Russian models meant she was having an affair. He also thought she had been unfaithful with a horoscope writer after he discovered junk emails from them had been dumped in her spam folder.
Douglas spent more than three hours attacking Ms Marshal and holding her hostage after she tried to leave the home more than 40 times while also stealing £100 from her. Perth Sheriff Court heard Douglas produced an axe then hurling it onto the bed in from of her and she had to sit on the weapon to prevent him from doing anything with it.
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC deferred sentence for reports and said: “This was a sustained and violent attack on your partner, during which you introduced an axe. It started at 9.30pm and was still going on at 12.50am when police arrived. The complainer found it a frightening ordeal which will have a lasting impact. It caused injury and upset.”
According to The Daily Record, fiscal depute Lee-Anne Barclay told the court: “They had been in an on-off relationship since December 2022, but had been known to each other since high school. On the afternoon of 17 May 2024 she was working as a carer.
“She received multiple text messages stating that he didn’t believe she was at work. He said he found things on her iPad she would need to explain. He stated he thought she was being unfaithful. He was showing emails from her spam folder.
“He stated that the horoscope was from someone she was having an affair with. He asked why she was speaking to Russian women and why she was pretending to be a Russian woman to meet people.”
Ms Barclay said he told Ms Marshall to leave but then started to throw things around and stopped her from walking out of the Perth flat. The prosecutor added: “He stated the only way she was leaving was in a body bag.
“She was frightened and intimidated by his remark and his behaviour. He grabbed her by the jacket and dragged her back into the property. She estimated she tried to leave 40 times and was stopped by the accused grabbing her. He threw her onto the bed with such force she fell off the other side.
“He threw an axe onto the bed and she sat on it to prevent him doing anything else. He stamped on the iPad. He began to kick at her legs. The accused began to barricade the door. He dragged a chest of drawers and a TV unit in front of it.”
Officers heard voices from the street when they forced entry to the home and found broken glass photo frames that Douglas had trashed. Ms Marshall was found to have sustained bruising and when she looked at her bank account, she found Douglas used her pin number to withdraw £100.
Defending solicitor David Holmes said his client’s behaviour had fuelled by alcohol and cocaine and that the couple had split since the incident. When the court was told Douglas had “convictions aplenty” but none for domestic violence, he continued: “You’re right. It’s the first and last.”
The court will consider imposing a supervised release order and a non-harassment order when he is sentenced – via video link from prison due to his anxiety – next month.
