A mother cleared of an unsolved murder was left in a pool of blood after her former lover tracked her down and subjected her to a brutal beating with a wooden pole.
Angela Newlands' skull was clearly visible after Tommy Doyle repeatedly struck her so hard that chunks of flesh were gouged out during the Valentine's Day attack.
Newlands had been in a violent relationship with Doyle and believed she had escaped his clutches after spending time in a refuge before being re-housed in a 'safe' cottage.
But Doyle found out where she was living and stormed past her makeshift barricade.
Doyle, 41, a prisoner at Perth, was remanded in custody today and warned that he would be sentenced to a lengthy period behind bars.
He admitted forcing entry to the property Newlands was in and assaulting her by striking her on the head and body with a wooden pole.
He admitted rendering her unconscious and knocking her to the ground, before kicking her on the body to her severe injury, while he was on bail.
Doyle further admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner by being racist towards police and using the phrase "baldy Scottish b*****d."
Fiscal depute Matthew Kerr told Perth Sheriff Court: "They had been in a relationship just over a year but it terminated in October 2020. They were not in a relationship at the time.
"She was placed in a refuge as a victim of domestic assault and coercive control. She came back to Perthshire and was told he did not know her location."
Ms Newlands was in the house alone on Valentine's Day and watching TV when drunken Doyle turned up and demanded entry. Despite blocking the door with a washing machine, Doyle was able to smash a window and force his way in.
Mr Kerr said: "She heard the glass panel smash and his face appeared in the broken window. He reached in, turned the key and opened the door."
Ms Newlands offered Doyle cash to try and get rid of him but he was drunkenly slurring abuse at her.
Mr Kerr said she saw Doyle with a wooden object in his hand and he struck her with it. A neighbour heard a bang, a woman scream and a man's voice shouting and they called police.
The court was told that the next recollection she had was coming round in another room with a police officer. There was blood splatter in various parts of the cottage.
Doyle claimed the blood was the result of "ten men" trying to get into the house and a broken skylight had left shattered glass all over the property.
"Officers saw Ms Newlands lying on a blow-up bed. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. She confirmed to police that her ex-partner had caused the injury," Mr Kerr said.
"She had a three inch deep laceration to the left side of her head, through which the skull was visible. She had multiple marks and bruises."
Sheriff Euan Duthie deferred sentence for reports and told Doyle: "Clearly, you are facing a lengthy period of imprisonment."
Ms Newlands, 31, was cleared of the as-yet-unsolved murder of Annalise Johnstone whose body was found dumped at the Maggie Wall's Witch Monument in Dunning, Perthshire in May 2018.
Her throat had been cut and she sustained non-survivable injuries.
Newlands was cleared of the murder after a judge at the High Court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict her of the crime.
Jordan Johnstone - who admitted carrying his dead sister's body for two miles and dumping her by a roadside - was also cleared of murder after the jury returned the controversial not proven verdict.
When he gave evidence after Ms Newlands was cleared at the murder trial, Johnstone blamed her for the killing and told the jury she had blackmailed him into covering it up.
He said Ms Newlands cut his sister's throat with a Stanley knife after going to look at the monument which marks the spot where a woman is said to have been burnt as a witch in 1657.
He said he later carried his sister's body for around 40 minutes before dumping it behind a wall about two miles away because he feared Ms Newlands' father was going to "chop my wee sister up and throw her away".
The prosecution and defence had confirmed that Mr Johnstone's car was near the Maggie's Wall Memorial at the time Miss Johnstone was attacked. No murder weapon has been found.
