A husband who became world famous after a dress he and his wife bought for their wedding “broke the internet” because people saw it in different colors has now been charged with attempted murder.
Keir Johnston appeared at the High Court in Glasgow after being charged with the attempted murder of Grace Johnston at a holiday home in March last year.
Johnston is accused of waging a nearly 11-year campaign of domestic violence and coercive control before allegedly trying to kill her by taping and strangling her.
The 38-year-old repeatedly attacked his wife at their home on Colonsay Island in the Inner Hebrides, culminating in him swinging a knife at her and trying to strangle her, a court heard.
The couple, who are both from the island, gained global fame following their 2015 wedding after the mother of the bride wore a dress that caused a global sensation in its true colors as millions saw it as black and blue and millions more they saw. white and gold.
Nicknamed “the dress that broke the internet,” it became a social media hit when it was first shared on Tumblr by wedding guest Caitlin McNeill, who asked for help with a color dilemma.
Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift have also shared it. The pair went on to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where they were handed $10,000 and a trip to Grenada after being shown black and blue on US TV.
However, now Johnston is accused in the court of trying to kill her husband. Johnston’s allegations include pushing the woman against a wall, yelling at her and assaulting her between April 2019 and March 2022, before threatening to kill her and brandishing a knife at her.
It is also alleged that he tried to get into the car where his wife was by hitting her through the open window of the car.
Johnston also allegedly put his wife in a headlock and dragged her out of the pub after she refused to leave with him.
Additional charges allege Johnston isolated his wife from her friends and controlled her movements and finances, controlling the amount of money she had access to.
When the pair first hit the headlines, an image of the dress generated up to 11,000 tweets a minute under the hashtag “#TheDress.”
After its initial popularity, the dress was then featured in a domestic violence campaign by the Salvation Army, which created an ad featuring a bruised and battered woman dressed in a white and gold dress.
The slogan is depicted on the poster. “Why is it so hard to see black and blue? The only illusion is if you think it’s his choice. Every sixth woman is a victim of violence. Stop violence against women.”
Despite this, prosecutors claim that the couple’s relationship has collapsed. And there was a series of brutal attacks by Johnston that culminated in the attempted murder of his wife. Johnston’s behavior allegedly culminated in him pinning the woman to the ground and sitting next to her on March 6, 2022.
He then allegedly continued to put his hands around her neck several times and squeeze her, restricting her breathing, while making threats of violence.
It is then alleged that he threatened to kill her and stabbed her, causing her life-threatening injury.
The Crown states that Johnston’s actions were with the intent to kill the woman.
The 38-year-old denies all charges against him and the case continues for a further preliminary hearing ahead of a trial in 2024.
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