A DRUGGED-up man held his terrified partner at knife point and told her: "The voices are telling me to do you in."

Daniel Hutchison, 29, began arguing with his partner after drinking alcohol and taking street Valium at an afternoon "garden party" with friends on June 25 this year, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.

In the evening, the others left, and at 12.20am his partner, who was in the bathroom, heard Hutchison shouting at her from the living room.

Cheryl Clark, prosecuting, said: "She went through and saw the accused punching the living room door, damaging it.

"[She] sat on the couch.

"The accused was standing in the middle of the room.

"He was shouting, 'You're f*****g getting it, f*****g cow'.

"He saw she had a mobile phone in her hand and snatched it from her.

"He pulled a small black-handled Stanley knife out of his pocket.

"He held it in his hand and shouted, 'You're no moving from there, the voices are telling me to do you in'."

Ms Clark said the woman was "petrified".

She managed to leave the flat and go out onto the stairwell, with Hutchison following her, "continuing to shout and scream".

She then went to a neighbour's, and borrowed the neighbour's phone to call police.

While this was going on, the neighbour, who was in her living room, could hear Hutchison still shouting and making threats of violence.

"He was shouting threats such as, 'I'm going to f*****g kill c***s'," Ms Clark said.

Police arrived within 20 minutes, but Hutchison had left. He was traced later at an address in Tillicoultry, where he was cautioned and arrested.

Ms Clark said that prior to the incident, Hutchison and his partner had been in a relationship for six months, and lived together at the flat where the incident occurred, in Coalsnaughton.

Appearing by video link at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Tuesday, October 13, Hutchison, now of Tullibody, pleaded guilty to domestically-aggravated statutory breach of the peace.

Solicitor Kelly Howe, defending, said: "The background to his offending is always mental health, which is exacerbated by alcohol and substance misuse.

"Unfortunately for Mr Hutchison, on this particular day friends had been present and he consumed alcohol for the first time in a considerable period.

"The bad decision was taken by the group, also, to take street Valium.

"That had a huge impact on his behaviour, which is evidenced."

Jailing Hutchison for 18 months, Sheriff Derek Hamilton told him: "Your history of offending while having a knife or weapon is well documented."

Anyone who has experienced abuse at the hands of their partners can call the Domestic Violence Helpline for free on 0808 2000 247, or Clackmannanshire Women's Aid on 01259 721 407.

More information on the support offered by Women's Aid can be found at clackswomensaid.org.uk/support-for-women