A SERIAL domestic abuser who battered his partner before she jumped 16ft from her bedroom window to escape him is facing a lengthy prison sentence.
Stephen Cornwell, 52, repeatedly hit Gillian Lang, 42, threatened to rape her daughters and left her fearing that he would kill her during a two-day ordeal in which he wrongly accused her of sleeping with another man.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Ms Lang was so concerned at the implications of staying with Cornwell that she felt she had no other option but to jump from her bedroom window at the property in Buntisland, Fife, last October.
But the leap left Ms Lang with broken legs, a fractured heel bone and fractured vertebrae. She underwent surgery and is now scarred for life.
Ms Lang told the court: "I was scared. I was petrified."
The story emerged following a trial at the high court in which Cornwell, a prisoner of HMP Perth, was convicted of serious assault.
Cornwell, who has previously served 10 years for assaulting his former wife, had denied committing any crime.
But a jury returned a guilty verdict on Cornwell, who has 23 previous convictions which are mostly for domestic abuse.
Now he faces a lengthy prison sentence.
Judge Lord Bannatyne told him: "I will defer sentence on you so I can obtain a criminal justice social work report. I will also call for a risk assessment."
During proceedings, Ms Lang told a jury that she began a relationship with Cornwell in 2012 when they both lived in Lincoln.
Ms Lang said she returned to Scotland in 2013 and moved into a flat in Somerville Street, Burntisland, at the beginning of last year.
She said that Cornwell continued to live in Lincoln but would occasionally come to visit her. The last time he came to Scotland was in October last year - just days before Ms Lang jumped from her window.
She told the court that Cornwell was agitated and suspicious about Ms Lang's social life.
"I could see that he was starting to change," she said. "He wasn't loving and caring like he normally was."
She told the court that Cornwell accused her of sleeping around with another man.
"I felt scared. I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to antagonise the situation."
She said that he accused of her of being a prostitute and having affairs and the abuse continued for a couple of days.
On the morning of Sunday October 5 2014, he became aggressive again and smashed items in the flat, throwing things at the wall.
She said: "I felt petrified and scared. I didn't know what was going to happen next. I knew I wouldn't get out - he wouldn't let me get that far, that close to the door."
Cornwell approached her holding a "Norman Bates style knife".
She added: "I felt trapped and really scared. I couldn't call anyone for help. I thought I was going to die for a minute."
She said he went to the toilet and he took her chance to escape. She entered her bedroom, lifted up the window.
Asked by the prosecutor what she was trying to achieve, Ms Lang replied: "To save my own life before something happened."
She told the court that she fell and landed on her feet before falling backwards. She said: "I was going to run but my legs wouldn't take me.
"I got on my hands and knees and crawled to the end of the road. My legs wouldn't take me.
"I was scared that he would come after me."
The court heard that Ms Lang was taken to hospital and treated for injuries.
Police arrested Cornwell and brought him into custody.
Following conviction, Mr Moll told the court that Cornwell was a repeat domestic offender.
Lord Bannatyne deferred sentence for reports until July 24 at the High Court in Aberdeen.
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