A Fife man strangled a woman until she blacked out before laughing at her over injuries he inflicted on her during a life-endangering attack.
Lee Spence subjected his victim to sustained violence that left a doctor noting 16 separate injuries on her, including blood shot eyes, when she was seen at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
Advocate depute Margaret Barron told the High Court in Edinburgh: “The physician who examined the complainer concluded that her injuries were consistent with being assaulted and the haemorrhaging in her eyes was consistent with strangulation.”
Spence, 22, of Kirk Drive, Leslie, admitted assaulting the woman to her injury and the danger of her life in an attack on her at his home address on March 2 and 3 this year, when he appeared at court by video link to jail. He also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Landed on her neck
Miss Barron said the care assistant had been at the address with Spence who was drinking and he had become agitated and aggressive.
He began shouting at the 20-year-old and called her “a slag” and threatened to kill her before grabbing a metal vacuum cleaner pole and beating her on the head with it.
He then began punching her to the head and body before grabbing her by the neck and squeezing tightly for several minutes.
The prosecutor said: “She stated that ‘after a few minutes everything went black and the next thing I remember I woke up and he was crying'”. The victim did not know how long she was unconscious.
The victim was lying on a bed in pain when Spence began repeatedly jumping on the bed and landing on his knees, with his knees striking her neck.
Spence then grabbed her by the neck again using both hands and began yanking her around before leaving the room. He returned with a glass which he smashed against the door before stabbing her on the leg with shards from it.
He then subjected her to another throttling assault before returning with a pint of milk which he poured over her.
Mocked his victim
The victim fell asleep but later complained that she had a sore head. Spence told her “that’s where I hit you with the Hoover”, then started laughing at her.
The care assistant went to her work but colleagues noticed she appeared to be injured and police were contacted. She was found to have bloodshot eyes, bruising, lumps to her head and a cut to her leg.
Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin said that because of his age Spence fell to be treated under the courts policies for sentencing young people.
He said: “I am aware from my dealings with him that he has something of a troubled background.”
The judge, Lady Carmichael, deferred sentence on Spence for the preparation of a background report until later this month and told him he would remain remanded in custody.
