Thug carved initials on girlfriend’s stomach

A SAVAGE thug who carved his initials on his girlfriend’s stomach has been described as a “creepy” Jekyll and Hyde figure who would chat with neighbours moments after battering her.

George Kennedy Temple cut “GKT” into Julie Rutherford’s body – telling her: “You’ll always remember me.”

The act was just one episode in a horrific eight-month period of abuse which took place at the Wester Hailes flat they shared.

Yesterday, at the High Court in Glasgow, the 40-year-old admitted assaulting his 36-year-old partner to her permanent disfigurement and to the danger of her life.

Today, a friend and neighbour of Miss Rutherford described how innocently Temple chatted to his neighbours and offered them cans of beer just moments after screaming was heard from their flat. She also described finding her friend “dripping in blood” and covered in a petrol-like substance as Temple stood over her with a lighter.

The procurator fiscal later accepted he was not guilty of this charge.

The friend told the Evening News: “He would stab her, beat her, stub out cigarettes on her skin, but to everyone else he was nice enough. There was one time where the neighbours were sitting in the garden and just after beating her he went to the window all smiling and offering the ladies beer. It was creepy.”

The friend described finding Miss Rutherford cowering in the common stair with Temple beating her.

They said: “Julie had her hands up and she was dripping with blood. She was hysterical. There was another time where he’d imprisoned her for 13 days in the flat and tortured her.”

Yesterday, advocate depute Gary Allan QC, prosecuting, told the court: “The complainer and the accused began a relationship around June 2009 and up until the point she suffered a heart attack in September 20, 2009 she described their relationship as great.”

Temple saved Miss Rutherford’s life by giving her CPR, but when she got out of hospital after 12 weeks he changed and became increasingly violent.

Mr Allan added: “She has difficulty recalling each instance of violence as she was beaten so frequently by the accused.”

She told police Temple had three or four kitchen knives with blue or red electrical tape round the handles.

She claimed he did this so his fingerprints would not be on the knives when he regularly stabbed her.

The court was told that Temple would accuse her of sleeping with other men, even claiming she was sleeping with a man who had served her in a shop.

Miss Rutherford was too scared to report him and Temple had destroyed her mobile. She briefly went to a women’s refuge but returned between October 28 and November 8 in 2010 and the beatings continued. The court heard Temple threatened to kill himself if she left.

The violence only came to an end after Temple beat her up in Wester Hailes Shopping Centre and police were called.

Temple said his relationship with Miss Rutherford was very good until she had amassed thousands of pounds of debt.

Solicitor advocate Jim Stephenson, defending, said: “Mr Temple has a record of violence, but he has never before served a custodial sentence. At the time he was heavily abusing alcohol and drugs.”

Judge Lady Dorrian deferred sentence on Temple until next month for background reports.