Tillicoultry gutter cleaner caged over catalogue of abuse towards uni girlfriend

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Tillicoultry gutter cleaner who subjected a university student to months of torment, finally holding her captive in his flat and twice suffocating her with bedclothes until she passed out, has been jailed for over a year.George MacDonald, 23, met his victim – 18 at the time of the offences – when she was studying at the University of Dundee.They began going out at the beginning of 2022, but within months, he had subjected her to a course of abusive behaviour, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.In April 2022, she was out driving with a friend in Dundee when she became aware that MacDonald was repeatedly trying to contact her.She ignored his phone calls and texts, but then received a series of Snapchat messages, saying, “I’m going to burn your car”, “Watch your back” and “You’re getting torture”.The same month, in the Fubar nightclub in Stirling, when she was standing with another man, he seized her by the neck and later accused her of trying to “get with” the male.In a scene in the street later, she fell to the ground.Their rocky relationship continued, with another incident in May, in MacDonald’s flat in Union Street, Tillicoultry.Prosecutor James Moncrieff said: “He got down on one knee and was begging her not to leave him when all of a sudden he bit her on the right thigh.”The bite didn’t break the skin, but caused bruising.0n June 16, 2022 the woman stayed overnight at MacDonald’s flat in Tillicoultry.The next day she told him she wanted to go and see her mother, but he forced her to stay, and placed a broken chain necklace round her neck and “pulled it tight”, causing reddening.Twice during an all-day ordeal he put bedcovers over her head and held them down so tightly she was unable to breathe, losing consciousness on