A domestic abuser from Keith threatened to kill his partner and told her how he would dispose of her body.
Alex Milton strangled, slapped and bit the woman during the course of their relationship, and also threatened to slit their pet dog’s throat.
He was jailed for 18 months at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his partner between May and December 2023.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood told the court that Milton and the woman had been in a relationship and living together at the time of the abuse.
She described how Milton became angry after his partner got upset when he arrived intoxicated at a party she was attending, leading to them leaving early.
‘It’s all your fault’
Back at their shared home, the woman went to bed but Milton came in telling her “It’s all your fault” and accusing her of making a scene.
The woman attempted to record the argument on her mobile phone.
During it, Milton “told her he would kill her and what he would do with her body”.
But when Milton spotted the phone, he dragged the woman from the bed and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her onto her tiptoes, before slapping her across the face.
He then bit her on the cheek and ear before ripping out her earring.
The next day Milton made the complainer go to Elgin and buy makeup to cover her bruises before they saw anyone.
The court heard that when a friend of the woman’s encouraged her to leave, she said she “did not want to leave because she was scared to further anger the accused”.
She also “thought if she could be a better girlfriend, then the accused’s conduct would stop”.
But at Christmas Milton again turned up to an event the woman was at and was “drunk and unsteady on his feet” and was refused entry by security.
Abuser threatened to slit dog’s throat
He sent messages to the woman saying “I hate you” and threatening to smash her car up, burn her stuff and slit their dog’s throat.
The woman was so concerned that she returned to their shared home, where Milton shut himself in the kitchen with the pet.
When he emerged, the woman ran into the kitchen and barricaded the door with a chair, but Milton broke the door handle and gained entry, before choking her.
He later held a glass bottle above her head and told her: “I might as well just kill you now” before biting her on the bottom lip in such a way that she “felt his teeth go right through”.
The woman fled to a neighbour’s home and police were contacted.
A medical examination at Doctor Gray’s Hospital noted dried blood on her face, a laceration to her cheek and a puncture wound to her lip.
Milton was arrested and taken into police custody.
Defence advocate Bill Adam, for Milton, told Sheriff Sara Matheson that his client was a hardworking man who had expressed genuine remorse for his actions and offered his apologies.
He highlighted a positive presentencing report and invited Sheriff Sara Matheson to impose a community disposal.
But the sheriff rejected this invitation, instead sentencing Milton, of Mulben, Keith, to 21 months in jail.
He also imposed a non-harassment order preventing Milton from contacting his victim for five years.