A jealous man who made a plea for help with his phone to his estranged wife was jailed for eight years yesterday for trying to murder her in a brutal attack.
Michael Curley, 51, barricaded the victim in his flat and throttled her before repeatedly stabbing her with a kitchen knife.
Curley stopped the attack after Leanne Curley pleaded with him and the victim fled into the street screaming.
Curley earlier admitted assaulting the 43-year-old victim at his home at Market Square, Aberfeldy, in Perthshire, on March 27 this year by placing an arm around her neck and restricting her breathing and repeatedly striking her on the neck and body with a knife to her severe injury and danger of life and attempting to murder her.
The judge, Lord Fairley, ordered that he should be supervised for a further three-year period and told him if he had been convicted of the crime after a trial he would have faced a 12-year jail sentence.
The judge told Curley: “It is clear from your actions, both in barricading the door and arming yourself with this weapon, that there was a degree of premeditation to this cowardly and unprovoked assault.”
Lord Fairley said that Curley was regarded as being exceptionally jealous and possessive.
Advocate depute Isla Davie QC told the court that Curley and his wife had separated in July last year, but still remained in communication with each other.
The prosecutor said that on the day of the attack the victim had collected her friend by car as they planned to go grocery shopping.
Miss Davie said: “But on the way she had arranged to meet Michael Curley at his flat in Market Square because he had asked for her help with his phone.”
“She walked through to the living room and picked up the accused’s iPhone. While she was looking at the phone she was aware of Michael Curley moving around the flat, but didn’t see what he was doing.”
“She could not see any immediate problem with the iPhone which she thought was odd,” said the advocate depute.
Curley came at her from behind and put an arm around her neck and tightened his grip before throwing her to the floor.
She saw he was holding a knife which he stabbed towards her stomach. He then put his hands around her throat and began to strangle her.
The victim was struggling to breathe and tried to shout for help but the attacker covered her mouth.
She managed to wriggle free and got to her feet but Curley also got up and stabbed her to the back of her neck.
The victim asked her attacker to stop and he did before he got a towel which she put to her neck to try to stop the blood flowing.
Miss Davie said: “At that point he seemed overcome with remorse. He placed his head in his hands.” Curley had taken the victim’s mobile phone during the struggle but handed it back to her and told her: “Just go.”
She tried to leave the flat but saw her attacker had moved a shelving unit in front of the door to barricade it, but he moved it allowing her to get out. She ran down the stairs and was seen by her waiting friend who contacted police.
The advocate depute said: “She was holding a towel to the back of her neck. Blood was seeping through her white T-shirt and she had blood on her arm.”
The attack victim was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and found to have three stab wounds to the back of her neck, two of which required stitches. A suture was also put into a chest wound and an injury to her left arm was treated with paper stitches.
Police found Curley sitting on a sofa in the living room, smoking a cigarette. He was told he was being arrested and responded: “It was stupid. I let her go straight away.”
He later told officers that he had “just snapped” and said that he stopped when she started screaming.
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan said it was accepted that there was no alternative to the imposition of “a substantial period of imprisonment”.
