A Tayside lottery winner who shouted “die” while he choked his wife on the floor of their home has been locked up ahead of sentencing.
Graeme Lacey, 55, launched the brutal attack on the woman after returning from a night out with her sister and brother-in-law and later told his nephew he had “no regrets” about his vicious conduct.
Lacey, who won £64,000 in 2016 as part of a workplace lottery syndicate that scooped £1 million, is now behind bars after he was remanded in custody at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The engineer pled guilty to endangering the woman’s life during the attack, with the court hearing that she believed she was going to be killed by her husband’s hands.
Prosecutor Marie Irvine revealed the couple had returned home in a taxi in the early hours when Lacey began to insult his wife.
Lacey then threw a dog bowl at her, 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, ******* 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 pleas, Lacey continued to strangle his wife as she fought to free herself from his grasp.
She eventually managed to escape and was then collected in a car by her nephew.
Police were eventually contacted despite the woman’s initial opposition.
The court heard how Lacey told his nephew: “I half expected you to be the police. I have no regrets for what I did.”
Lacey, of Kingoodie Houses, Invergowrie, pled 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 at Old Dronley Road, Liff.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said it was “highly likely” Lacey would receive a jail sentence and remanded him while a social work report was prepared.
Sentence was deferred until next month.
