Student fined £1,000 after pouring vodka in flatmate’s eyes and setting fire to her room

A student at The University of St Andrew’s has been fined £1,000 after pouring vodka in his flatmate’s eyes, chasing her with a knife and setting fire to a room she was in.

Ewan Harvey was sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday and has also been given an order banning him from contacting Amanda Meun, his former flatmate and victim, for five years.

The geography student claimed he had been the victim of a conspiracy by some of his other flatmates, but cried in the dock after being charged with several offences.

Sheriff Eric Brown told him: “I was not impressed by your evidence which I considered to be unconvincing and self-serving. I did not consider your evidence to be credible or reliable and nothing said by you in your evidence caused me to have a reasonable doubt about the Crown case.

“The position of your defence is that the Crown witnesses have conspired and, in effect, fabricated or embellished evidence and have been telling lies. I believed their evidence.”

Harvey was previously found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner by chasing his flatmate with a knife, placing it near her throat, throwing it and stabbing it into a table.

He was also found guilty of “culpably and recklessly” setting fire to an empty chocolate bag in her room, of assaulting her by pushing her into a wall and pouring vodka in her eyes as well as throwing a glass bowl at her, placing her in a chokehold, pushing and kicking her.

Via Canva

Harvey claimed he had a close relationship with his flatmate Amanda Meum but denied they were in a relationship and said he had a long-term girlfriend.

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He said Harvey carried out a lot of attention-seeking behaviour and was eventually confronted by his flatmates about severe bruising on Amanda’s legs. Flame said he initially felt Harvey had been showing off, but became extremely concerned when he pulled the knife and refused to put it down.

He said: “Amanda was sitting on his lap. She was saying the same as myself, that he should stop, and she was asking him to hand the knife over to her. He did not. Ewan started chasing her round the table with the knife. Ewan was a bit crazy, it was probably part of the act he was trying to portray. It was very crazy and alarming.

“Amanda was worried but was trying to look cool in the situation. There were nervous giggles. It wasn’t a very big table. It was perhaps four times round the table, he then put the knife to her throat. It was about one centimetre away. It was about one centimetre away. it was not touching her, but it was very close.”

“I think he then put the knife on the table because at that point everyone was shouting at him to put the knife down. He was unhinged. That incident felt a lot more full-on than being a joke. We were shocked. It was worrying because it was a dangerous situation for everyone.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Student terrorised flatmate by chasing her with a knife and pouring vodka in her eyes 

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• Prospective St Andrew’s University student killed by his uncle in knife attack