A prominent farmer accused of abusing women for nearly 20 years hurled a plate of spaghetti bolognese at one because he refused to eat pasta more than once a week, a jury heard yesterday.
A former partner described how James McOuat, 44, was controlling and bullying and assaulted her on numerous occasions if she angered him.
She said she had become isolated from her family and only realised she was a domestic abuse victim when she read an online article about the subject.
“I had been making dinner, spaghetti bolognese, and he had a rule that he didn’t want pasta more than once a week. He wanted potatoes,” she said.
“He shouted that he didn’t want pasta again. He threw the plate.”
The jury heard that it was one of several incidents and she regularly felt “humiliated and embarrassed”.
“He was telling me all these things about how bad I was – that nobody liked me and nobody else would put up with me.
“He controlled how much petrol I was allowed. He didn’t like me taking the car anywhere.
“He didn’t like my mum. He felt she was too opinionated for a woman. She had objected to the way he had spoken to me.”
She told Perth Sheriff Court that when she was vacuuming before a parental visit, McOuat flew into a rage and hit her with the cable, before tying it tight round her arm.
The court previously heard evidence from another ex-partner that he had kicked her in the stomach while she was heavily pregnant. She described McOuat as “evil”.
McOuat, from Pitcoag Farm, Glencarse, faces multiple charges including abduction and sexual assault.
He is alleged to have pressed a pillow over a woman’s face, as well as pulling a knife on her and threatening to kill her. McOuat is also alleged to have pulled a gun on a teenage girl and her mother.
McOuat denies charges involving three females between October 22 1997 and March 31 2014.
He faces several charges of assaulting the first woman, which include hitting her with car keys, a chair, a fork, a jug and a towel to her injury. He is alleged to have abducted her in Glencarse and later knocked her down and repeatedly kicked her while she was pregnant.
McOuat faces several charges relating to the second woman between 2006 and 2014, including striking her on the body with a belt and hurling a plate at her.
He is alleged to have pelted her with household objects and punched her.
It is further alleged he attacked her with a food mixer, wrapped a vacuum cord round her arm, kicked her on the body and hurled catalogues at her. He is alleged to have abducted and detained her at the farmhouse against her will.
The trial, before a jury and Sheriff Gillian Wade, continues.
