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Nwicker60
26-Aug-16, 19:40
Husband blocked wife from visiting mother with advanced Alzheimers Wick jury is told

A WOMAN, who claimed she was subjected to years of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her husband, has given a jury another cruel example of the control he exercised over her.

Marie Islam , 47, said that she desperately wanted to visit her mother who was dying from Alzheimers but Konstanty Bembnista refused to let her go.

It happened after Mrs Islam, who was living with him at their cottage home in Lybster, had just spoken to her mother on the phone and realised her health was deteriorating.

Mrs Islam told Wick Sheriff Court: "Her memory was progressively worse every time I spoke to her...she hardly knew me any more. She had been living in Livingston but was in hospital. I said to Kon (Konstanty) that I needed to go to see my mother and that it might be the last time. I hadn't seen her since my father's funeral."

Mrs Islam said that her husband seemed to be getting satisfaction at her becoming more and more upset and told her - "You are going nowhere, so you can get that out of your head."

At that point, they were both sitting on a sofa and Mrs Islam said she was still talking about going to see her mother. Then Bembnista picked up a heavy cigarette box and beat her with it before dragging her across the floor where she was bitten by their two dogs which were hysterical. Later, the accused agreed to take her to the local doctor but told her to lie and say she had been attacked by a stray dog.

The jury heard previously that Bembnista, 68, had a short fuse and needed little excuse to get angry and violent. Mrs Islam said he smashed a plate over her on once occasion and would throw anything that came to hand, at her, including an encloypedia and glasses.

She said she discovered early in the life they had made for themselves in their new home they had moved to from the Central Belt, that her husband didn't like to be corrected about anything and went on: "I made the mistake of doing that and got glimpses of what he was really like. I subsequently became entirely in his charge."

Mrs Islam, who eventually left Bembnista, and moved south, said he appeared to delight in degrading her and blamed her for his violent episodes. She said: "He would frequently go out, leaving me locked in."

Mrs Islam referred to a lengthy statement to the police which she had found harrowing as it had rekindled unpleasant memories of her treatment by the accused, because she had remarried and wanted to concentrate on enjoying her new, happy, life.

The jury later heard on the third day of the trial, that Mrs Islam, who originally came to this country from Italy, had settled into a job in the shoe department at Edinburgh store, Jenners, after leaving Bembnista, but became nervous and trembling after learning that Bembnista had called one day, inquiring after her.

Staff lied to protect her, saying she had moved on, and she was given an escort to and from the store in case she was approached by the accused.

Bembnista, 68, now living in the Caithness hamlet of Thrumster, has denied stalking Mrs Islam in the Scottish capital and threatening her and committing a breach of the peace in the city. The accused also pleaded not guilty, on indictment, to two historic charges of assault, one of them detailing several allegations. The incidents are said to have occurred between June, 1991 and July 2013.

The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday.