A violent and controlling Aberdeen man installed 17 cameras and motion sensors around the family home to torment his wife and monitor her movements.
Gintas Ramanauskas subjected his partner to disturbing levels of control, leaving her feeling isolated and trapped.
The 43-year-old’s sickening antics included installing monitoring equipment at their home – as well as the bathroom – so he could always watch her.
Ramanauskas’ campaign of domestic abuse in Peterhead and Aberdeen spanned a number of years and also included violence.
A Crown narration of the details of offences is usually read aloud in open court in front of the accused, press and members of the public as part of the principle of “open justice”.
But Sheriff Shirley McKenna opted to silently read the Crown’s narration of the offences to herself, leaving the public and press in the dark as to the horrific nature of the case.
However, The Press and Journal has managed to obtain the withheld narration and can publicly reveal the disturbing details of Ramanauskas’ crimes.
It stated Ramanauskas and his partner had been together for six years and married for five.
Shortly after moving to the Peterhead area in 2015, Ramanauskas’ wife and stepson noticed a change in his behaviour as he consumed more alcohol and became “controlling”.
Gripped stepson by the neck
On one occasion between 2015 and 2018, the stepson, who is now 23, was assaulted by Ramanauskas after intervening in a heated row between the couple.
Ramanauskas grabbed him by the throat and pushed him onto a bed.
In April 2017, the couple had a verbal argument over the woman communicating with her brother.
As the row escalated, Ramanauskas approached the woman from behind and put her in a headlock, dragging her from the bedroom into the hallway.
She described Ramanauskas gripping her neck in an “extremely tight manner which restricted her breathing greatly”.
The attack left her with bruising and redness.
The narrative stated: “The accused did this because the complainer walked away from the accused during the argument.”
He also repeatedly called her “Suka”, meaning “bitch”.
Video equipment spied on wife
While living with Ramanauskas in Peterhead, the woman observed her husband “install video cameras and sensors in each room, including the toilet”.
When questioned, Ramanauskas claimed the equipment was to monitor his stepson who he had “concerns” about.
A mutual friend of the couple witnessed the cameras and “formed the opinion they were in place to control” the woman.
The narrative stated: “The cameras were all linked to the accused’s mobile, and he would be sent notifications when the complainer moved throughout the flat or left the property.
“Due to this, she felt she could not leave the house as the accused would always be watching her through the CCTV system.
“On one occasion the accused contacted her to tell her to stop sitting on her phone, due the fact he had been watching her and this happened on several occasions.”
At one point, the woman turned off the cameras when Ramanauskas left the address, only for him to immediately return and shout at her for doing so.
The woman was left unable to leave the property or visit friends because Ramanauskas was “watching her”.
Abuse victim left feeling ‘isolated and trapped’
In late 2017, the couple moved to Manor Avenue in Aberdeen and Ramanauskas installed 17 cameras throughout the address – three outside and 14 inside.
This included motion sensors on the doors and windows, all linked to his mobile phone.
When the woman again tried turning off the cameras, Ramanauskas, in a drunken state, returned and turned off the wi-fi to prevent her from communicating with friends and family.
This left her feeling “isolated and trapped”.
In July 2020, a witness received what he thought was a “pocket dial” call from Ramanauskas, during which he heard him call his wife “stupid” and a “bitch” while she could be heard crying.
The following month, the same witness received a text from Ramanauskas telling him he had “killed” the complainer.
Worried about the woman’s safety, the witness immediately drove to their address where he found Ramanauskas drunk and his wife “crying hysterically”.
He also noticed all the cameras.
In November 2020, Ramanauskas was again drunk and arguing with the woman, who started to film him on her phone.
Ramanauskas reacted by storming up to her and grabbing her by the chin, covering her mouth and squeezing her face.
Husband told wife to ‘go and kill herself’
He then forced her head backwards, striking a doorframe and leaving a bump and bruising as well as a swollen lip.
The woman fled to a neighbour’s house but, as they were not home, returned “crying and petrified”.
Ramanauskas’ cruel and disturbing behaviour had a severe impact on his partner, leaving her feeling suicidal.
On one occasion, Ramanauskas told her that she should “go and kill herself” and that his life “would be much better and easier without her in it”.
When she asked for a divorce, Ramanauskas replied that “he did not want a divorce, he wanted her dead”.
Throughout the period of offending, the woman did not have access to money as Ramanauskas confiscated her bank card and never returned it.
She would be “interrogated” by Ramanauskas as to why she needed it and told that he “worked for the money and should be in control of it”.
She was not allowed to go shopping without her husband and he would become abusive if he deemed her not to need an item.
In April 2021, the woman asked Ramanauskas to buy sponges and gloves, resulting in him sending her abusive messages, swearing and making threats.
Relationship branded ‘problematic’
Ramanauskas also took possession of the woman’s legal documents, including her passport, payslips, Lithuanian ID documents, bank statements, National Insurance card, marriage certificate and settled status documents.
He locked the documents away so she could not access them.
In April 2021, the woman bravely disclosed Ramanauskas’s vile behaviour to her brother and a friend and the police were contacted.
Ramanauskas, of Manor Avenue, Aberdeen, pled guilty to assaulting his stepson, assaulting his partner to her injury and engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his partner.
Defence agent Kevin Longino described the pair’s relationship as “problematic”, adding that Ramanauskas himself was also in favour of a non-harassment order.
He asked the sheriff to follow the recommendation in a court-ordered social work report.
Sheriff McKenna did not comment on the offences but handed Ramanauskas a community payback order as an alternative to custody.
She imposed 225 hours of unpaid work, 12 months of supervision and a five-year non-harassment order.
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