The head gardener at Dame Ann Gloag’s Perthshire castle has been found guilty of attacking his wife when they lived together in staff accommodation there.
Robert Isdale had denied the 2018 domestic assault at Kinfauns Castle, near Perth, but was convicted after a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
The 56-year-old, who said he also cooked for the Stagecoach founder and walked her dogs, will be sentenced at a later date.
Hands round neck
Isdale’s then-wife, Anne Mungai, 43, told the court she moved from Kenya to Scotland in 2015 and they married in October that year.
Giving evidence about the attack, she said Isdale was unhappy about a movie she had put on, leading to an argument in which he angrily grabbed her by the biceps.
Prosecutor Brogan Moffat read out parts of a witness statement which Ms Mungai gave to police on September 12 2020.
Ms Mungai said that after a struggle, she tried to run for the door and Isdale asked “where are you going you f***ing b**ch”.
The statement continued: “I told him I wanted to talk to my boss and he grabbed me again by the arms.
“I told him he was threatening me and he threw me to the floor.
“He came down with his knees either side of me, straddling me, and placed both hands around my neck.
“He took a tight grip and I was unable to breathe. I was choking.
“This lasted for a few seconds and I really struggled to breathe.
“He said to me that tonight he was going to kill me.
“I started to struggle to gain breath when he eventually let go.”
Grabbed knife
She said Isdale threw a heavy, wooden elephant statue towards her, which she believes smashed against the wall.
She recalled picking up a knife from a table and saying she would stab him.
Asked by the fiscal depute how she felt after the assault, Ms Mungai said: “Unwanted and very hurt”.
The court also heard from Ms Mungai’s son, Louis Mutua, who walked in to see his mum holding a knife close to her chest and a broken elephant statue on the floor.
Mr Mutua said he took the knife from his mother, who appeared shaken and upset, and led her out.
He said Isdale appeared angry.
Ms Mungai told the trial her son, a 23-year-old dental and nursing student, came from Kenya to stay at the castle in February 2018 after being adopted by Isdale.
She said Isdale had started getting jealous of him and “wanted to play man of the house”.
Visa suggestion
Defence counsel Murdo Macleod KC highlighted Ms Mungai and her son first reported the assault to police in a phone call on August 31 2020, 11 days after receiving a letter to the effect Isdale wanted a divorce.
Mr Macleod noted her visa was nearing the end of a five-year probationary period and suggested one way of enabling her to stay in the country was to claim she was the victim of domestic violence, most persuasively evidenced by a court conviction.
Ms Mungai acknowledged she had heard friends talking about this before but denied exaggerating and fabricating her evidence for this purpose.
Guilty
Isdale said he has stayed at Kinfauns Castle for many years and worked as a head gardener and cook for Dame Ann and also walked her dogs.
When asked how he met his wife, he replied: “She was over to look after Ann Gloag’s kids and to do housekeeping.”
He told the trial he threw a TV remote control during an argument after Ms Mungai made a derogatory comment about his sister.
He claimed he never had an elephant statue but rather, a wooden lion, which was too heavy to throw.
He said of the assault: “That definitely didn’t happen. I would remember if I put my hands around her.”
Sheriff Susan Duff said she found the evidence of both Ms Mungai and her son credible and reliable and convicted Isdale of the assault, which took place at some point between June 1 and August 31 2018.
Sentencing was adjourned until June 6 to obtain background reports.
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