Man 'tried to kill ex by stabbing her in neck with broken bottle after stealing her dogs'
A man stabbed his ex-partner in the neck with a broken bottle after she refused to get out of her car after giving him a lift home, a court heard.
Jeremy Holness, 40, is accused of attempting to murder Alison MacDonald, in Stafford Street, in Birchills, in Walsall, on October 10, 2021.
She suffered a six-inch slash wound to the neck and cuts to her face and chest during the incident.
A trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday heard that the pair had split some months earlier and that the victim gave him a lift so she could collect her pet dogs which he previously stole from her Bushbury home.
Prosecuting at the trial Mr Howard Searle said: "The build up to this incident started on September 22, 2021 because that is when the defendant burgled her house and stole her two Chihuahuas dogs. She saw him walking away with them and she knew it was him because he told her he took them.
"He had phoned her a number of times to talk about returning the dogs. It would seem he stole the dogs so he could have some leverage to try and win her back."
Mr Searle said they initially arranged to meet outside Bushbury shops, but Holness was not there when she arrived and he then phoned to change the location to a betting shop in First Avenue, where he was waiting without the dogs.
He told the jury: "She said he was talking about getting back with her. She told him she didn't want to get back with him. At this point it was just after 9pm. She told him she just wanted her dogs."
The court heard that they agreed that Mrs MacDonald would drive him to the Walsall flat and that she thought that his behaviour was calm and friendly. They arrived just after 10pm and Holness went to get the animals.
Mr Searle said: "Five minutes later he came back. He had a bag and told her the dogs were in the bag. She told him to put the bag on the front seat. He tried to tell her to get out of the car and come to the back, but she refused. She said before she knew it, his arm reached into the car.
"He kept lunging towards her. She thought it was a knife. She felt she was being stabbed.
"She started to scream 'help'. The police officers who investigated it were able to discover that it wasn't a knife, but the jagged edges of a bottle," Mr Searle said.
He said some of her screams were overheard by other people who came to her aid.
"Because of that help Jeremy Holness ran off. He was chased by some local youths who managed to detain him about 500 yards away in Burrowes Street. The police came and searched for the knife. They did not find anything in the night, but in the daylight they were able to find that bottle," Mr Searle added.
Holness, of Stafford Street, Birchills, denies attempted murder. He also admitted a charge of burglary and theft.
The trial continues.
