A vicious abuser who subjected his former partner to five days of “brutality” has been jailed.
Ross Ramsay knocked the woman unconscious and screamed at her to get up as she lay on the ground.
Scaffolder Ramsay also throttled the woman and forced a cigarette into her mouth.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the thug hurled insults and abuse at her during the sustained attack at her home.
A young child screamed at Ramsay to get off the woman as he choked her.
The 39-year-old’s violent conduct was slammed by Sheriff Richard McFarlane, who said prison was the only appropriate sentence given the gravity of the offence and Ramsay’s previous convictions.
He told Ramsay: “This is not a one off incident. It’s a repeated course of brutality which resulted in severe injury and permanent disfigurement.”
Forced cigarette into mouth
In 2012, Ramsay was jailed for 45 months at the High Court in Edinburgh for his part in the fatal attack on Alexander McLellan in Dundee.
Prosecutor Lora Apostolova explained how Ramsay first lay waiting for the woman in her bed when she did not think he was in the house.
She said: “He had a cigarette in his hand and she told him he could not smoke in the house.
“He pretended to contact the police to complain about her.
“She tried to grab the cigarette from his hand.
“He grabbed her by the wrist and hair, pulled her head back and shoved the cigarette in her mouth.
“She tried to call 999 but he snatched the phone from her. She had multiple marks on her hand, several scratches to her neck, and cigarette ash and black stains in her mouth.”
Desperate bid to escape
The woman made several attempts to escape but Ramsay kept dragging her back inside. Police later found a clump of her hair on the floor.
The woman tried to flee out of a window but Ramsay pulled her back in by the hair and punched and kicked her on the body.
Ms Apostolova added: “She lost consciousness and came to with the accused standing over shouting, ‘Get up’.
“She came round and he began punching her again.”
The woman suffered a broken nose and front teeth and a fracture to her ring finger.
Ramsay, a prisoner of HMP Perth, admitted engaging in a violent course of behaviour against his partner of three years at a property in Dundee between January 28 and February 1 2020.
He admitted punching her head and body until she was rendered unconscious to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Injuries ‘could have been more serious’
Solicitor Ross Bennett said Ramsay accepted he would be jailed but said the woman had “over-egged the pudding” in relation to her injuries.
“Serious as they are, they could have been more serious,” Mr Bennett said.
“He’s been suffering quite a bit himself over the past year. He’s had mental health issues.
“His behaviour is not acceptable and he realises it’s not acceptable.”
Ramsay was jailed for 27 months.
