A lottery winner who shouted “die f****** die” as he strangled his wife on the floor of their home has been jailed.
Graeme Lacey, 55, has also been banned from contacting the woman for the next 20 years after he admitted subjecting her to the vicious attack.
A court heard how the woman feared for her life as the heartless brute, who later said he had “no regrets” about his conduct, squeezed her neck with both hands.
Lacey, who scooped the lottery win in 2016 as part of a workplace syndicate, was today jailed for 22 months at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The engineer pleaded guilty to endangering the woman’s life during the attack with the court hearing that she believed she was going to be killed at her husband’s hands.
“Your wife is still carrying the mental trauma of what you did to her and she has clearly been mentally damaged by what you did to her,” Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said.
Prosecutor Marie Irvine revealed that the couple returned home in a taxi in the early hours where Lacey began to insult the woman.
Lacey then threw a dog bowl at the woman, which missed her, before striking her with a pair of trainers.
Ms Irvine said: “The accused then came up to her face in an intimidating manner before the complainer said that she wasn’t scared of him.
“He grabbed the witness and threw her to the floor. He pinned her down, straddled her and began to strangle her while saying ‘die, f****** die.’
“She was pleading with the accused, trying to reason with him saying ‘it’s me, you’re hurting me, you’re going to kill me.'”
Despite her despite pleas, Lacey continued to strangle the woman as she fought to free herself from his grasp.
The woman eventually managed to escape and was collected in a car by her nephew. Police were eventually contacted despite the woman’s initial opposition.
Lacey, of Kingoodie Houses, Invergowrie, pleaded guilty to throwing a dog bowl at the woman, throwing a pair of trainers which struck her on the body, seizing her body, pushing and pinning her to the floor before straddling her and choking her to the danger of her life on June 23 2019 on OId Dronley Road, Liff.
The thug was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing and returned to court following the preparation of reports.
Defence solicitor Gary McIlravey said Lacey did not enjoy his period on remand but was under no illusions that a custodial sentence was almost a certainty.
Lacey was jailed for 22 months and placed on a non-harassment order for the next two decades.
Sheriff Carmichael added: “You assaulted your wife by, among other things, pinning her to the ground and strangling her using both hands while shouting ‘die f****** die’
“Your wife was struggling to breathe. I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
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