An Inverness man accused of assaulting his girlfriend and knocking out one of her teeth walked free yesterday.
Raymond Macdonald was on trial accused of assaulting Gemma Morrison to her severe injury by pushing her to the floor, throwing a bracelet at her and punching her.
Macdonald, of 124 Laurel Avenue, Inverness, denied the charge.
Yesterday, Miss Morrison told Inverness Sheriff Court that Macdonald had punched her in the face, leaving her with a black eye, a split lip, eight damaged teeth and one missing tooth after they had returned from a meal out with a carry-out of alcohol.
However, defence agent Marc Dickson suggested his client had simply thrown a bracelet at her, which struck her in the mouth.
Miss Morrison replied: “The bracelet is really light and no way could it have caused that damage.”
But she admitted only have a patchy recollection of events, and that she had told her dentist and a police officer she had fallen onto a sink while drunk.
However, yesterday she told the court: “We had an argument but I can’t remember what it was about because I’d had too much to drink. Raymond’s mother told me the following day that he had thrown a bracelet at me and it had struck me on the mouth.
“I was confused and scared and didn’t want it to come to court so I said I had fallen and hit my mouth on the sink. It wasn’t until I gave the police my second statement that I told them the truth.
“I am almost certain that he hit me.”
The court heard Macdonald had accompanied Miss Morrison to the dentist on two occasions. The jury was also told she had two plates fitted to her upper and lower jaw to replace teeth as well as having pins inserted to support other loose teeth.
Dentist Grainne McCann, 31, told the trial: “She said she had fallen against a sink while drunk. I was not convinced. But it was a possible explanation. My thoughts were that the damage was caused by more than one impact and the wobbly teeth were more consistent with a softer impact.”
After the Crown closed its case, Mr Dickson argued there was no case to answer.
His submission was upheld by Sheriff David Sutherland, who acquitted Macdonald.
