Scottish husband Keir Johnston, who is behind the viral blue and black dress illusion, admits brutally attacking his wife

World News

From Nicholas McEntyre

The Scottish husband behind the infamous ‘dress that broke the internet’ admitted strangling his wife, almost a year after he was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Keir Johnston, 38, pleaded guilty on Thursday to assaulting his wife Grace Johnston at their home on the Scottish Isle of Colonsay on March 6, 2022.

According to the Guardian, Johnston allegedly brandished a knife while threatening his wife and saying that “someone is going to die” after a night of drinking during the attack.

The near-fatal attack began days earlier when Grace resisted Keir’s demands not to attend a job interview on the mainland, the outlet reported.

On the day of the attack, Keir Johnston told his wife he was leaving her, leading to an argument between the couple.

“She went to the front of the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pushed her to the ground,” prosecutor Chris Macintosh told Glasgow High Court.

“He put both knees on her arms so she couldn’t move. He then began to strangle her with both hands. She was initially able to scream and feared for her life and believed that Johnston wanted to kill her as he was very forceful.”

According to the BBC, a witness pulled Keir Johnston away from his wife, but the crazy husband went inside before returning moments later and threatening to “finish” his wife and choke her again.

Keir Johnston was also reportedly holding a knife.

Grace Johnston suffered severe bruising and called police, telling the dispatcher, “My husband is trying to kill me.”

Keir Johnston was initially charged with attempted murder.

During the High Court trial in Glasgow, Grace Johnston described an 11-year campaign of abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband, including domestic violence and coercive control.

Keir Johnston also allegedly isolated Grace from her friends and family and monitored her money to decide how much of it she should have access to.

The couple gained internet fame when Grace’s mother, Cecilia Bleasdale, bought the infamous dress a week before their wedding in February 2015.

Bleasdale had sent her daughter a photo of her outfit and asked her opinion on the dress, confusing the couple, who disagreed about the color.

Grace saw it as white and gold, while Keir argued it was black and blue.

It’s black and blue, of course.

At the wedding, Caitlin McNeill, the couple’s friend, was supposed to perform with her band, but got stuck on the dress and posted the photo on her blog on Tumblr, Business Insider reported.

The photo was an overnight sensation and caused people to argue about the color scheme.

After gaining internet fame, the couple, Grace’s mother and McNeill appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where Bleasdale wore the dress to shut down the debate.

The daytime talk show host gifted the couple a $10,000 check and a trip to the Caribbean.

Following his guilty plea, Keir applied for “continued bail” but was remanded in custody where he will remain until his sentencing next month.

“You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in circumstances that were absolutely terrible for her,” Judge Lady Drummond told the man, according to the BBC.

“I am afraid Mr Johnston that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and will be remanded in custody in the meantime.”

Johnston will be sentenced on June 6.