A 42-YEAR-OLD man has been found guilty of pinning a woman against a wall by her neck, following a four-day trial in the Royal Court.
Alexander Lindley Reid was accused of three counts of grave and criminal assault against the same woman – the jury yesterday convicted him of one of these.
The woman had alleged that he 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.
In relation to the charge that Reid was found guilty of on Thursday, Advocate Hall told the court Reid pinned the woman against a wall by her neck. The woman described how she was able to crawl away and ran to a neighbour to call the police.
Jurors were shown images taken by the police on the day showing bruising on the woman’s neck.
Advocate Hall told the jury that non-fatal strangulation was a serious form of assault due to the risks associated with cutting off the brain’s blood supply.
The advocate contrasted the woman, who she said was “extremely vulnerable”, with Reid’s “calm and controlled manner”.
She said 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 would not have been capable of making the story up.
And Advocate Hall said Reid only claimed self-defence during the incident because there was evidence – the 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.
Pointing to the photographs of the woman’s injuries, Advocate Hall said: “Does that look like self-defence to you?”
Advocate Olaf Blakeley, defending, argued that the two first allegations were made up.
Regarding the photographs of the bruises, Advocate Blakeley said it was “really hard” to establish how much pressure needed to be applied, and for how long, before visible marks appeared. This meant that the injuries shown in the pictures could have appeared after a very short time, he claimed.
Advocate Blakeley called for the jury to acquit Reid.
After a few hours of deliberation, the jury found Reid guilty of one count of grave and criminal assault.
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, was presiding.
Reid will next appear in court on Friday 28 March, when a sentencing date will be set.
