Groom behind 'blue and black or white and gold' viral 'dress that broke the internet' admits attacking wife
10 May 2024, 12:35 | Updated: 10 May 2024, 12:54
The groom behind the viral 'dress that broke the internet' has been put behind bars after admitting to a brutal assault on his wife.
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Keir Johnston, 38, and his wife Grace caused a mother-of-the-bride dress to go viral in 2015 when an argument raged over people perceiving the garment in different colours.
Some considered it to be back and blue while others thought it was white and gold.
Johnston has now pleaded guilty to endangering his wife's life in an attack that left her "fearing for her life".
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During an attack on March 6, 2022, Johnston turned on his wife, pinning her to the ground and choking her before brandishing a knife, a court heard.
“Somebody is going to die,” he threatened.
Grace Johnston begged for help from her friends over text because she believed police would take too long to get to their home on the Isle of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides.
The court heard that Johnston had a history of "domestic abuse" toward his wife including trying to strangle her before the 2022 attack.
Johnston, who worked as a petrol station attendant, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting his wife.
Prosecutors said the lack of permanent police presence on the island created a "situation where [Grace] felt trapped".
She had gone for a job interview on the mainland in the days before the assault. Johnston had disagreed with her applying for the role.
Grace later received a text from her husband, who had been at the pub drinking, telling her: “You should support me, but you do not.”
“Johnston woke up and said that he was going to leave her,” prosecutors said. “She went outside the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pinned her to the ground. He placed both knees on her arms, so she was unable to move. He then began strangling her with both his hands.
“She was able to scream. She feared for her life and believed Johnston intended to kill her. He was very forceful.”
A witness described hearing screams and ran to pull Johnston away when he threatened to "finish" his wife off.
He then choked her and was seen brandishing a knife.
Addressing him in court, the judge told Johnston: “I have no need to tell you that this is a serious and violent offence.
“You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely terrifying circumstances for her.
“I am afraid, Mr Johnston, that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and you will be remanded meantime.”
The couple previously appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show when the dress went viral on social media. They were also handed a luxury trip to Grenada worth $10,000.
The craze over the garment, nicknamed 'the dress that broke the internet', started when a guest at the couple's wedding shared an image of it to social media.
