A man has been found guilty of strangling his former girlfriend after a four-day trial in the Royal Court this week.
Alexander Lindley Reid (42) was accused of three counts of grave and criminal assault against the same woman. The jury today found him guilty of one of these counts.
His former girlfriend alleged that he had repeatedly assaulted her, strangled her, and held a knife up to her face.
Crown Advocate Christina Hall, prosecuting, said that Reid took advantage of the woman’s vulnerability.
The allegations
In her closing speech today, the Crown Advocate reminded the jury of the three alleged assaults.
The first was said to have occurred at home, when Reid strangled the woman until she couldn’t breathe.
The second was alleged to have happened at a hotel, where the woman said Reid grabbed her – including by the neck – and held a knife up to her face.
During the third assault, Reid was said to have pinned the woman against a wall by her neck.
The woman described how she was able to crawl away and ran to neighbour to call the police.
Jurors were shown images the police took that day, showing bruising on the woman’s neck.
Crown Advocate Hall told the jury that non-fatal strangulation is a serious form of assault due to the risks associated with cutting off the brain’s blood supply.
She added that it is “a significant risk factor” of homicide within a relationship.
“She is a very vulnerable person”
The Crown Advocate contrasted the woman, who she said was “extremely vulnerable”, with Reid’s “calm and controlled manner”.
She explained that the woman had been consistent in the accounts she had given to mental health workers, the police and in court, despite her struggling with her memory – arguing that she wouldn’t have been capable of making the story up.
Addressing the jury, Crown Advocate Hall said: “It takes a very contrived person to lie to medical professionals, then to lie to the police, then to lie to you, members of the jury. That’s very difficult.
“Ask yourselves: you heard from her for two days. Is she capable of that? She is a very vulnerable person – is she capable of being that contrived?”
Crown Advocate Hall alleged that Reid had only claimed self-defence on the third assault because there was evidence: police took pictures of the marks on the woman’s neck, which a forensic medical examiner told the jury were consistent with the woman’s account.
Reid is much taller than the woman so he would have been able to defend himself by simply pushing her away, she argued.
Pointing to the photos of the woman’s injuries, Crown Advocate Hall said: “Does that look like self-defence to you?
“You can see the handprints on the complainant’s neck and the Crown say that the degree of force that was required for this is not indicative of self-defence.”
“There was a fight”
Advocate Olaf Blakeley, defending, said the two first allegations were made up – but acknowledged that the couple had fights.
He said: “There cannot be one person in this courtroom who doesn’t have the first amount of sympathy for the complainant in this case.
“This is a complainant who clearly struggles with mental health issues, she is tormented by mental health and it is extremely sad.”
Advocate Blakeley claimed there had been a “fight” at the hotel, rather than an attack by Reid.
He said: “[The woman] kicked him in the testicles. There was a fight. She grabbed [Reid] and was pulling at him.”
The defence evidence included one of the woman’s former partners who told that court that she had stabbed him in the face during their time together.
Advocate Blakeley also played an audio recording of an incident between Reid and the woman, in which he said she can be heard slapping him.
Regarding the photos of the marks on the woman’s neck, the advocate said it was “really hard” to establish how much pressure, or for how long, needed to be applied before visible marks appeared.
This meant that the injuries shown in the pictures could have appeared after a very short time, he added.
Advocate Blakeley called for the jury to acquit Reid.
The verdict
After a few hours of deliberation, the jury found Reid guilty of one count of grave and criminal assault.
This was in relation to the third court in which Reid pinned the woman against a wall by her neck, leaving visible marks on her neck which were photographed by police and shown in court.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Emma Fewtrell said: “There is no place in our community for this type of behaviour.
“The victim in this case has shown incredible bravery to come forward, and trusted States of Jersey Police to tell us what happened to her.”
Reid will next appear in court on Friday 28 March for a sentencing date to be set.