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Thug James Brand was jailed for four years
ABUSE HELL

Weightlifting brute kept lover prisoner at Alloa home and beat her so badly she soiled herself in front of their children

James Brand, 48, repeatedly battered Sarah McMahon with a sheriff calling it one of the worst domestic abuse cases they had seen

A WEIGHTLIFTING brute kept the mother of his three children prisoner at their home and beat her so badly she soiled herself in front of their kids.

Bodybuilding enthusiast James Brand, 48, locked Sarah McMahon in their home, tried to stop her seeing her parents and covered her face in water so she struggled to breathe.

 Thug James Brand was jailed for four years
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Thug James Brand was jailed for four years

A sheriff said it was one of the worst domestic abuse cases they had ever dealt with as Brand was jailed for four years today.

Brand met his victim in 2003 when Sarah - 15 years his junior - was 18.

In a series of abusive incidents he repeatedly knocked her to the ground, repeatedly punched her, knocked her out, compressed her throat so she struggled to breathe, drenched her in paint, and threatened to kill her, Stirling Sheriff Court was told.

Prosecutor Ashleigh Smith said on March 6, 2015, Brand, who had been drinking vodka, turned on Sarah and told her he wanted her to "fall out with her dad, as he had 'disrespected' him".

Miss Smith said Brand became "riled up" and beat her with his clenched fist until she passed out unconscious.

She was aware of "being moved" and heard her children screaming, the court was told, and when she came to and tried to go outside for a cigarette she found Brand had locked the door.

He told her: "Do you think I'm stupid -- you're not getting out of the house."

He told her that if she got him charged he would get revenge, and for a whole weekend kept the doors locked and blinds drawn at their home in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, and would not let her father in to see her despite his repeated attempts.

She eventually persuaded Brand to let her go to hospital, after she agreed to tell doctors she had "fallen out of a window while trying to throw away a nappy".

Medics found she had a fractured jaw and eye socket, and told her she was lucky not to have lost the sight in one of her eyes.

Later one of her children told a teacher that "Mummy had a sore face because Daddy had hit her" and the couple separated for a while, before rekindling their relationship and moving to a new home, also in Alloa.

There, Brand "did not approve" of Miss McMahon's parents helping her with the gardening, the court was told.

He came home from work and found her father working in the garden and turned on her, grabbing her by the chest and slamming her into a wall.

Miss Smith said: "He then lifted her off the ground by her throat and slammed her down onto the floor on her back. This knocked a pail on the ground which caused water to pour over her face causing her to struggle to breathe."

Then he began strangling her, shouting, "I'm going to f****** kill you."

When she called in a decorator to help with some painting he also flew into a rage, and covered her in paint.

On another occasion when she told him she had met her mother for her mum's birthday, and had met her father, he lunged at her with a bottle of milk in his hand, throwing it all over her.

A few hours later he began to abuse her again.

Miss Smith said: "She was on her knees in the hallway, trying to stop the accused, screaming for her daughter to get help, and urinating herself with fear."

The other children saw what was happening, but Brand told them they were "just playing" and sent them upstairs. Then he closed the door, dragged her round by her hair, and punched her to the head and body. Then he lifted her off the ground and slammed her into a wooden table.

Miss Smith said: "She was unable to remember the rest of the evening."

Eventually she left him and her new partner reported the matters to police.

The court heard she still suffered from the mental and physical effects of the abuse.

Brand, of Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, pleaded guilty to repeatedly assaulting McMahon to her severe injury, and abducting her by refusing to let her leave her house, between March 2015 and January 31st 2017.

Lora Apostolova, defending, said: "He knows custody is what he is going to get."

Imposing the jail term, Sheriff William Gilchrist said: "This is one of the worst cases of domestic abuse I have had to deal with, committed over a period of two years,
and it had very serious consequences for your partner.

"What makes it even worse of course is that virtually all of these incidents occurred in the presence of one or more of the children, and it's undoubtedly the case that that will affect those children in the future."

Brand was also made subject to a non-harassment order, preventing him from contacting or communicating with Miss McMahon for five years.

Brand covered his face in shame as he was led from court to a prison van.

Parents ‘deliberately split toddler son’s tongue in half using pair of scissors' in sick abuse campaign, police say


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