A man who tried to choke his wife to death has been jailed for nine years.

Mohammed Rumen Ahmed, 47, launched an attack on his spouse at the Rockhouse Hotel, in Lossiemouth, Moray, on 11 November 2022.

He repeatedly punched her, threatened to kill her and restricted her breathing with her headscarf, which rendered her unconscious.

Ahmed denied trying to murder his wife at the hotel and elsewhere but was convicted of the offence, aggravated by domestic abuse - which a judge warned was reaching "epidemic proportions".

During a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Michael O'Grady KC told Ahmed that evidence led at his trial showed him to be "cruel, cowardly and heartless".

O'Grady said it was not for him to sentence him for that, but it was the context in which the offence was committed.

The judge said: "It is for me to sentence you for the very grave crime of which you have been convicted. The attack upon your wife was brutal and cowardly."

He said it was clear that the victim thought she was going to die and with good reason.

The judge said: "Domestic violence is the scourge of our society. It seems to have reached epidemic proportions.

"Anyone in any doubt of that should come to these courts and watch and listen."

Defence counsel Lynsey Morgan, for Ahmed, told the court: "He pled not guilty at trial and that is the position he maintains now."

She said despite this, Ahmed accepted that he faced a custodial sentence due to the serious nature of the conviction.

The defence counsel said Ahmed was running a restaurant and was previously involved in a variety of roles in the hospitality industry.

She said: "He has been ostracised by many of those around him."

The judge made a non-harassment order prohibiting Ahmed, formerly of Lossiemouth, from contacting or attempting to contact the victim for an indefinite period.