A 42-year-old man who allegedly held a knife up to his girlfriend’s face and threatened to gouge her eyes out is on trial for assault this week.

Alexander Lindley Reid denies four charges of grave and criminal assault – all of which he is alleged to have committed on one woman.

On the first day of the trial, Crown Advocate Christina Hall told jurors that the alleged victim “felt controlled” by Mr Reid.

She told that court that he had grabbed the woman by the neck and non-fatally strangled her several times.

Crown Advocate Hall said that, during the first assault, Mr Reid put his hand around the woman’s neck and “began to squeeze her throat until she felt she could not breathe”.

Two of the assaults took place at a hotel on the same night, she added.

The advocate told the court that Mr Reid had drunk alcohol before the alleged attacks.

He is said to have grabbed the woman by the neck and by the nose ring during the first of two alleged assaults.

The woman then went to sleep, and the second assault was said to have occurred later that night.

“The complainant awoke to find the defendant still mumbling to himself,” said Crown Advocate Hall.

“The defendant then attacked the complainant, threatening to gouge her eyes out with a cutlery knife.”

The court heard that, some weeks later, Mr Reid grabbed the woman by the neck, “pinning her up against the wall” and throwing her to the ground.

The woman then fled and called 999.

Appearing in court yesterday, the alleged victim described Mr Reid as a “stern” boyfriend.

“You could see the anger in his eyes,” she said.

The woman explained that she didn’t know what caused Mr Reid’s anger because “he doesn’t talk about that, he’s just interested in sex all the time”.

She described how on one occasion, he had “flipped” suddenly before assaulting her.

The woman explained that, at the hotel, she had been woken up to Mr Reid being “mad because [she] was asleep”.

“I was exhausted from work,” she said. “And he was drunk, he’d drunk all the champagne.”

She also told the court how Mr Reid had threatened her.

“He had a knife and put it straight up to my eyes, and said he was going to gouge out my eyes,” she said.

Mr Reid then tried to kick her out of the hotel room, she added.

The woman said that, after he left the hotel, Mr Reid claimed that he couldn’t get a taxi and convinced her to let him come back – saying he wouldn’t assault her again.

Mr Reid, represented by Advocate Olaf Blakeley, is expected to claim that he was acting in self-defence.

The jury trial is due to last four days, with witnesses including hotel staff and neighbours.

The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, is presiding.