Man who bragged on Facebook after assaulting his girlfriend jailed

A man was jailed for four and a half years today after attacking his partner before putting a photo of an ambulance called to take her to hospital on social media with the caption 'cross me n there's ur taxi.'

James Cameron had been freed early from a prison sentence for assaults on former girlfriends when he battered Michelle Corsie at her home in Edinburgh’s Sleigh Drive.

Unemployed Cameron who has 17 previous convictions for assault in a criminal record spanning 16 years, repeatedly punched and kicked his latest victim.

Ms Corsie was found spitting blood and bleeding from a head injury with her face swollen following the beating.

The man was jailed following a case at the High Court in Edinburgh

She was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and found to have a broken nose, fractured nasal septum and eye socket and a probable fracture to a bone in her left foot.

A judge told Cameron that it was “a serious aggravation” that the assault had been committed when he was on licence from a previous sentence for attacks on former partners.

Lady Scott pointed out that the victim was “in a particularly vulnerable condition” on the day of the assault.

The judge also ordered that Cameron should be kept under supervision for a further three year period. She reduced his jail term from five years to take account of his guilty plea.

32-year-old Cameron, a prisoner in Edinburgh, was originally charged with attempting to murder his victim, but the Crown earlier accepted his plea of guilty to a reduced charge of assaulting her to her severe injury on November 16 last year by repeatedly punching and kicking her to the head and body.

Advocate depute Euan Cameron told the High Court in Edinburgh that the accused had an extensive criminal record for violence, dishonesty, disorder and road traffic offences.

He said in 2016 he was jailed for 34 months for attacks on two ex-girlfriends and was on licence from that sentence when he carried out the latest assault.

Police had received calls about a man and woman arguing at the flat in the Craigentinny area and officers attended at the address and spoke to Ms Corsie, but no crime was reported and she appeared uninjured at the time.

Neighbours later heard shouting in the early hours of the morning and the sound of further arguing was noticed. After the injured woman was found the emergency services were alerted.

When police attended at the hospital to speak to the victim she said she had been injured in a “fight” with her boyfriend who had punched her “two or three times”.

Cameron was later found to have put the photograph of the ambulance with a paramedic in front of it parked outside the address where the assault occurred on his Facebook page.

The prosecutor said: “A police officer later identified this image as showing the scene at the time of the arrival of the emergency services at about 2 am on November 16 2017.”

He said: “Below this photograph the accused had posted the comment: ‘Cross me n there’s ur taxi, u know who use r lol 1 down lol’.”

Mr Cameron said that after Cameron was arrested his phone was seized and examined and contained the photograph on his Facebook page.

Defence counsel Gordon Jackson QC said the injuries which were inflicted were probably caused by two blows being struck.

Mr Jackson said the victim was “quite supportive” of Cameron and handed up a letter from her to the judge.

He said: “She is still very much on his side, still supportive and still wishing to continue with the relationship she had.”