A man is awaiting sentence for battering his terrified partner after a night out.
Ian Crighton, 37, left the woman fearing for her life during his frenzied attack outside the Wellgate Centre in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It was revealed the woman hid in a bush after Crighton punched and choked her outside the shopping centre on Victoria Road.
The pair had been drinking along with the victim’s sister in a city nightclub before leaving to walk home at around 3am.
Crighton, of Tullideph Street, suddenly became aggressive and attacked the woman as she began to walk away from him.
Prosecutor Gavin Burton told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The accused appeared beside her and felt him squeezing her neck which caused her to panic.
“She felt him striking her on the body and head, grabbing her hair and dragging her over the stairs.
“She was lying on the ground with the accused continually striking her on the body.
“She said she was scared for her life and felt there was no way out.”
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A passer-by attempted to intervene after hearing her screaming and police were contacted.
The woman was traced hiding in a small garden patch and was having difficulty breathing.
After being arrested, Crighton replied: “Guilty as charged.”
The victim sustained multiple scratches, grazes and cuts and clumps of her hair had fallen out.
Crighton pleaded guilty from custody to seizing the woman’s neck and restricting her breathing before repeatedly punching her on the head and body, seizing her hair and dragging her over stairs on Victoria Road on October 20.
Solicitor David Sinclair said Crighton had previous convictions for domestic offending, adding that his client had little recollection of the attack.
He said: “There’s very little I can say with regards to mitigation.
“He can’t recall the events that took place.
“On being presented with the charge and summary of evidence, the expression of contrition was immediate.
“She wants nothing more to do with him and that’s something he has to move on from.”
Before granting Crighton bail, Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown deferred sentence on him until next month for reports given Crighton’s history of domestic offending.
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