Daniel Torrie

Introduction

Daniel Brandon Torrie is a 27-year-old man from Scotland with a history of prison sentences who pleaded guilty to a serious offence of assault to injury and danger of life against his former partner. On 17 November 2025 he subjected the woman to a sustained attack in her own home — punching her repeatedly, biting her face, striking her head on the floor and compressing her neck — after which she said she thought she was going to die. Sentencing him on 9 October 2026, Lady Poole imposed an extended sentence of nine years, comprising six years’ custody and a three-year extension, and told Torrie that strangling somebody inevitably creates a real and justified fear of death .

Background Information

Torrie has previous convictions for serious assaults involving injury, with domestic aggravations attached to two previous offences, and has offended against another woman he was in a relationship with. Although his previous offending was dealt with at sheriff court level, it involved periods of imprisonment imposed on four separate occasions, and he had previously been tried on indictment. He had been out of prison for only three months when he committed this offence. A criminal justice social work report assessed him as maximum in terms of risk and needs, with future analogous offending highly likely, and concluded that he poses a significant risk of serious harm .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted a horrific assault on his former partner — punched, bitten, head struck on the floor and neck compressed; extended sentence of nine years.

Torrie went to his victim’s home on 17 November 2025 without her permission and was still there when she returned. After an argument, he dragged her to the floor and pinned her there, punched her repeatedly on the head and body, bit her on the face, and struck her head repeatedly on the floor. He compressed her neck, restricting her breathing, and the attack continued for some time before he allowed her to leave her home to escape him. He had been drinking and taking drugs before the offence — an aggravating factor, not mitigation, in the judge’s eyes .

The victim was left with multiple injuries to her face and body, including bite marks and bruising round her neck, and suffered severe headaches and throat soreness that left her struggling to speak. In her victim impact statement she described devastating long-term effects on her physical and emotional health, with sleep problems, panic attacks and tinnitus, and said she finds it difficult to trust people, particularly men. “I knew him, went above and beyond for him, trusted him and had a relationship with him, yet he became capable of using extreme violence against me,” she said; she was terrified during the attack and thought she was going to die .

Lady Poole rejected the suggestion that his difficult background excused him, noting partial explanations — neglect, abuse, homelessness and emotional dysregulation — alongside credit for eleven months of sobriety in prison and written remorse. But she concluded that normal conditions of licence would not adequately protect the public from the risk of serious harm he poses on release .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Torrie’s guilty plea was tendered eight months after his first appearance on petition, reducing the headline sentence of eight years — which already included six months for the partner aggravation — to a six-year custodial term. The victim’s statement, quoted at length in the published sentencing statement, documents the lasting psychological toll of the attack. He remains subject to the non-harassment order Lady Poole imposed on 31 July 2026 .

Current Status

Torrie is serving an extended sentence of nine years imposed on 9 October 2026: six years in custody followed by a three-year extension period on licence, with conditions fixed by the Scottish Ministers. Breach of the licence conditions may see him recalled to custody, and he remains liable to be sentenced for any offence committed while on licence. The sentence was backdated to 18 November 2025, the date he was first remanded in custody for this offence .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 27, Torrie returns to prison for what the court accepted was a serious escalation of a pattern: a fourth victim of domestic abuse in his record, attacked after only three months of freedom. His own written apology to the victim and his description of the attack as a turning point in his life are now part of the permanent court record, alongside the judge’s finding that head injuries of this nature are potentially life threatening and that this was not his first victim of domestic abuse .

Sources

• “HMA v Daniel Torrie” — Judiciary of Scotland sentencing statement, 9 October 2026: source