A man who carried out a knife attack on a complete stranger after being spurred on by his girlfriend has been jailed for almost four years.

Edward Ward, 29, launched a vicious knife attack on Daniel Murphy in the car park of a Tesco Extra store in Dundee.

He was spurred on by fiancee Chelsea Malone, 23, who told Ward to "batter" Mr Murphy when a comment was made about the pair "stoating" in an inebriated state through the store's car park.

The pair denied a knife was involved, saying that Ward had acted in self-defence, and that the huge gash left behind Mr Murphy's ear and across his face had been caused by a ring worn by Ward.

Malone then produced a broken piece of jewellery on the final day of evidence in their trial, a move branded a "Perry Mason moment" straight from the fictional TV crime show by the prosecutor.

A four-day trial at Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Ward and Malone had clashed with Mr Murphy and girlfriend Erin McCluskey outside the Kingsway West Tesco store in Dundee on August 15.

Words were exchanged between the couples, who were completely unknown to each other, before Ward and Malone, who have a one-year-old daughter together, followed the innocent victims towards their van in the car park.

Ward then launched his attack slashing Mr Murphy behind the ear and dragging the knife across his face.

The victim was left with a massive gash behind his left ear and a permanent scar across his cheek.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson, summing up the case for the Crown, said: "Why have Chelsea Malone and Edward Ward acted in such a cavalier manner regarding the production of the ring?

"It is because they are lying to you. The cut on Daniel Murphy's face was clearly caused by a knife and they think this ring is a way of explaining away the damning photos.

"Do you really think such an injury could be caused by that ring you saw? Do you really think H Samuel are in the business of selling such deadly weapons?

"This was an assault, an assault with a knife which left Daniel Murphy with a gruesome and horrific injury."

Malone, of Dryburgh Crescent, Dundee, denied a charge of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner on indictment.

Ward, a prisoner at HMP Perth, denied a charge of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

However, a jury took an hour and a half to find Malone guilty by majority and Ward guilty unanimously.

Ward further admitted committing the offence while breaching a bail condition not to approach or contact Chelsea Malone.

Both were on bail at the time of the offences.

Sheriff Elizabeth Munro jailed Ward for three years and eight months and imposed a community payback order on Malone, to be supervised for a year and a half.

She said: "This was really quite a horrendous assault and I consider it to be unprovoked. The young man who suffered this horrible injury had done nothing to you.

"What you were doing with a Stanley blade I do not know."

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