A violent thug attacked his girlfriend after deleting contacts and social media friends from her phone, telling her: “You don’t need to talk to any other people.”
Lindsay Smith slapped his partner across the face, pinned her to a bed by her wrists and then wrapped his hands around her throat as she tried to fight him off.
A witness heard Kerri Dawson “crying hysterically” as she was flung onto the bedroom floor.
Smith appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday and admitted assaulting Ms Dawson, headbutting another girlfriend and punching his mother in the face in three separate incidents just weeks apart.
The 29-year-old was released on bail but was warned he could face a stretch in prison.
Broken nose
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court Smith assaulted a previous girlfriend, Claire Edwards, on February 17, 2019, at a flat in Perth’s Dunsinane Drive.
He pushed her and then pulled her round to face him.
“As she turned her head towards him, he struck her with his forehead, making contact with her nose and causing it to break.”
Smith apologised and told her: “That wasn’t meant to happen.”
He grabbed a towel to stem the flow of blood and then tried to straighten his partner’s nose himself, “unsuccessfully,” said Mr Sweeney.
Ms Edwards told paramedics she had tripped and banged her face on a radiator.
She later told a friend Smith had attacked her.
She had to undergo surgery to have her nose reset.
Jumped out bedroom window
Mr Sweeney said Smith assaulted his mother Michaela Frazer when she visited his home on March 17.
“She noticed the accused was in an agitated state, under the influence of valium and stressed out because he could not source more cannabis,” Mr Sweeney said.
Ms Frazer tried to intervene when her son got into an argument with Ms Edwards.
“The accused punched her to the head, causing swelling to her left eye and nose.”
At about 9pm, police arrived at the property looking for Smith in connection with allegations of a disturbance.
“The accused was sat in the hallway so he could not be seen by police,” said Mr Sweeney.
“Ms Edwards was sat beside the accused but was too scared to answer the door as she knew the accused would stop her.
“After a few minutes, the accused fled by jumping out of a bedroom window. This allowed Ms Edwards the opportunity to open the door to police.”
Victim heard ‘crying hysterically’
The court heard Smith and Ms Dawson had been in a relationship since April 2019.
In June that year, the pair stayed overnight at Smith’s grandmother’s house in Methven.
Mr Sweeney said: “At around 1am, they were in a bedroom.
“Ms Dawson noticed the accused was looking through her phone and was deleting contacts and social media accounts.
“He told her: ‘You don’t need to talk to any other people’.
“A struggle ensued over the mobile phone.
After he pinned her down by her wrists, he put his hands around her neck
Ms Dawson punched Smith on the nose, but he continued to seize her by the throat, leaving her “scared”.
“She made further attempts to knocked the accused off her.
“He grabbed her and threw her off the bed and onto the floor, where she remained for a few minutes.”
Jail warning
Sheriff Charles Macnair deferred sentence until August 2 for background reports.
He told him: “Bail will be continued but I do so with very considerable hesitation having regard to the nature of these offences.
“You should not think that that is any indication at all that you will remain at liberty after this case calls again.
“These are very serious offences and they were committed just three months apart.”
