The man behind the viral “dress that broke the internet” craze has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for violently assaulting and strangling his wife.
Keir Johnston, 38, pinned partner Grace to the ground, choked her and brandished a knife at their home on the Isle of Colonsay, Inner Hebrides, in March 2022.
Lady Drummond told the High Court in Glasgow that Johnston strangled his wife for around 20 seconds.
The judge said: “Initially she was able to scream. She feared for her life and believed you intended to kill her.
“You were very forceful. The strangling lasted about 20 seconds. She did not lose consciousness but felt very close to doing so.”
The couple previously hit headlines across the globe in 2015 when a picture of a dress worn by the mother-of-the-bride at their wedding sparked an online debate over its colour.
Some saw the #thedress as black and blue, which was correct, while others saw white and gold.
Image: The black and blue Roman Originals dress, alongside an ivory and black version. Pic: PA
Nicknamed “the dress that broke the internet”, millions of people across the world got involved in the debate – including celebrities.
The likes of Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber saw black and blue, while Anna Kendrick, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian saw white and gold.
The Johnstons even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the US, where they were handed $10,000 and a luxury trip to Grenada.
However, the court heard that Johnston had a history of abusing his wife.
‘My husband is trying to kill me’
On the day of the attack, Johnston had been drinking at a pub quiz while his wife was elsewhere.
Prosecutor Chris Macintosh said Mrs Johnston received text messages from her husband, complaining that she did not do enough to support him.
Mrs Johnston, who had days previously visited the mainland for a job, returned home to find her husband asleep.
On waking, he told her that he was going to leave her.
The pair ended up outside, where Johnston pinned his wife to the ground with his knees on her arms. He then began to strangle her with both hands.
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A witness heard her screams and tried to pull Johnston away. He initially stopped but returned and was seen clutching a knife.
Lady Drummond said: “You came back outside and threatened to finish her off.”
Johnston was also heard saying “somebody is going to die”.
Mrs Johnston messaged friends pleading for help, but eventually dialled 999 and told the operator: “My husband is trying to kill me.”
Mrs Johnston suffered visible bruising to her neck as a result of the assault.
Defence argued ‘love kept them together’
Johnston last month pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife to her injury and the danger of life.
The petrol station attendant, of Moffat in Dumfriesshire, had been remanded in custody by Lady Drummond ahead of his sentencing on Thursday.
Johnston was supported in court by his family and friends, including his mum and new partner.
Defence solicitor advocate Marco Guarino urged Lady Drummond to “go out on a limb” as he appealed for a non-custodial sentence for his client, suggesting a community payback order with “lengthy supervision” alongside a restriction of liberty order.
Mr Guarino said: “Two people who were clearly in love with one another could not exist with each other.”
He added: “It became apparent that their lifestyles were diverging.”
The lawyer said the pair “should have parted” instead of struggling on, adding: “It was probably their love that kept them together.”
Mr Guarino said Johnston had made “no attempt” to shift the blame over the attack and understood the negative impact his actions had made on all those affected.
Lady Drummond acknowledged the character references provided and accepted that Johnston had made “positive contributions” to his local community.
The judge also noted that Johnston had worked hard previously, had no other convictions, and suffered from an acute stress reaction and adjustment disorder.
She added that he had taken steps to address his behaviour, including voluntarily attending therapy, and had “shown remorse and insight” when discussing what happened with professionals.
However, Lady Drummond said Johnston had been violent towards his wife before – including attempting to strangle her previously.
The judge said: “It is recognised medically that external pressure applied to the neck by strangulation may lead to unconsciousness, decreased brain function and ultimately asphyxia and death.
“Applying low pressure can cause unconsciousness within five to 10 seconds. Death can occur within a few minutes.
“Strangulation is an inherently dangerous and life-threatening act.”
His victim was said to have suffered “emotionally, psychologically and financially”.
Lady Drummond said: “She states that the effect of your actions will last forever.
“The only appropriate sentence for a crime of this gravity is imprisonment.”
As well as the 54-month jail sentence, Johnston was also handed a non-harassment order prohibiting him from contacting the complainer for 10 years.
Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a “shared responsibility” to tackle the “burden” of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week.
Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring “cooperation and tangible results” regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel.
Image: King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA
Mr Macron – who is the first European leader to make a state visit to the UK since Brexit – told the audience that while migrants’ “hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate”, “we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life”.
“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he added.
Looking ahead to the UK-France summit on Thursday, he promised the “best ever cooperation” between France and the UK “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries”.
Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal at the key summit on Thursday.
King Charles also addressed the delegations at a state banquet in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, saying the summit would “deepen our alliance and broaden our partnerships still further”.
Image: King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.
Sitting next to President Macron, the monarch said: “Our armed forces will cooperate even more closely across the world, including to support Ukraine as we join together in leading a coalition of the willing in defence of liberty and freedom from oppression. In other words, in defence of our shared values.”
In April, British officials confirmed a pilot scheme was being considered to deport migrants who cross the English Channel in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in France with legitimate claims.
The two countries have engaged in talks about a one-for-one swap, enabling undocumented asylum seekers who have reached the UK by small boat to be returned to France.
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Britain would then receive migrants from France who would have a right to be in the UK, like those who already have family settled here.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
Image: President Macron greets Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle at his address to parliament in Westminster.
Elsewhere in his speech, the French president addressed Brexit, and said the UK could not “stay on the sidelines” despite its departure from the European Union.
He said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China.
“Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe, and sovereignty means a lot to both of us, and everything I referred to was about sovereignty, deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy, and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share, and the controversies we want to share.
“Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy – the very core of our identity – are connected across Europe as a continent.”
The Princess of Wales and celebrities attended the King’s star-studded state banquet on Tuesday, where Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
On the first day of Mr Macron’s state visit, King Charles gave a toast in French and said the three-day trip was another chance to “celebrate a deep and enduring friendship”.
“What’s possibly the most remarkable thing is the way in which the speciality of one country is part of the story of the other,” the monarch said.
“For centuries, our citizens have admired one another. We’ve made each other laugh, and we’ve imitated one another.”
Image: The Prince and Princess of Wales at the State Banquet. Pic: PA
Image: The banquet hall at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
Image: The King makes a speech at a banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
Image: King Charles looks at Emmanuel Macron at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
After the King’s speech, Mr Macron told him France had a “real affection for your mother” Queen Elizabeth II, adding he believed the feeling was “reciprocal”.
“She was your queen,” he said. “To us, she was the Queen.”
He capped off his speech – which repeated his calls for closer relations that he made earlier in the Palace of Westminster – by saying: “In honour of the United Kingdom, of this entente amico that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance.
“Long live the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland! Long live France!”
Image: Emmanuel Macron gives a speech at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
The Princess of Wales also made her first appearance at a state banquet in almost two years, sitting next to the French president.
Image: Emmanuel Macron and Kate, the Princess of Wales, share a toast. Pic: PA
Also in attendance were Sir Mick Jagger, frontman of The Rolling Stones, who was joined by his fiancee Melanie Hamrick, and Sir Elton John, who was accompanied by his husband David Furnish.
Image: Mick Jagger taking his seat at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
Image: Elton John and David Furnish at the state banquet at Windsor Castle. Pic: PA
Meanwhile, it was announced that the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the Norman conquest of England, will return to the UK for the first time in more than 900 years, and will feature in an exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027.
Mr Macron joked ahead of the state banquet that negotiations to bring the 11th-century artwork back to the UK took longer “than all the Brexit tests”. Talks on a loan had started as early as 2018.
At least 13 people may have taken their own lives after being accused of wrongdoing based on evidence from the Horizon IT system that the Post Office and developers Fujitsu knew could be false, the public inquiry has found.
A further 59 people told the inquiry they considered ending their lives, 10 of whom tried on at least one occasion, while other postmasters and family members recount suffering from alcoholism and mental health disorders including anorexia and depression, family breakup, divorce, bankruptcy and personal abuse.
Writing in the first volume of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report, chairman Sir Wyn Williams concludes that this enormous personal toll came despite senior employees at the Post Office knowing the Horizon IT system could produce accounts “which were illusory rather than real” even before it was rolled out to branches.
Sir Wyn said: “I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that a number of senior, and not so senior, employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least, should have known that Legacy Horizon was capable of error… Yet, for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.”
Referring to the updated version of Horizon, known as Horizon Online, which also had “bugs errors and defects” that could create illusory accounts, he said: “I am satisfied that a number of employees of Fujitsu and the Post Office knew that this was so.”
The first volume of the report focuses on what Sir Wyn calls the “disastrous” impact of false accusations made against at least 1,000 postmasters, and the various redress schemes the Post Office and government has established since miscarriages of justice were identified and proven.
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3:28
‘It stole a lot from me’
Recommendations regarding the conduct of senior management of the Post Office, Fujitsu and ministers will come in a subsequent report, but Sir Wyn is clear that unjust and flawed prosecutions were knowingly pursued.
“All of these people are properly to be regarded as victims of wholly unacceptable behaviour perpetrated by a number of individuals employed by and/or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu from time to time and by the Post Office and Fujitsu as institutions,” he says.
What are the inquiry’s recommendations?
Calling for urgent action from government and the Post Office to ensure “full and fair compensation”, he makes 19 recommendations including:
• Government and the Post Office to agree a definition of “full and fair” compensation to be used when agreeing payouts • Ending “unnecessarily adversarial attitude” to initial offers that have depressed the value of payouts, and ensuring consistency across all four compensation schemes • The creation of a standing body to administer financial redress to people wronged by public bodies • Compensation to be extended to close family members of those affected who have suffered “serious negative consequences” • The Post Office, Fujitsu and government agreeing a programme for “restorative justice”, a process that brings together those that have suffered harm with those that have caused it
Regarding the human impact of the Post Office’s pursuit of postmasters, including its use of unique powers of prosecution, Sir Wyn writes: “I do not think it is easy to exaggerate the trauma which persons are likely to suffer when they are the subject of criminal investigation, prosecution, conviction and sentence.”
He says that even the process of being interviewed under caution by Post Office investigators “will have been troubling at best and harrowing at worst”.
The report finds that those wrongfully convicted were “subject to hostile and abusive behaviour” in their local communities, felt shame and embarrassment, with some feeling forced to move.
Detailing the impact on close family members of those prosecuted, Sir Wyn writes: “Wives, husbands, children and parents endured very significant suffering in the form of distress, worry and disruption to home life, in employment and education.
“In a number of cases, relationships with spouses broke down and ended in divorce or separation.
“In the most egregious cases, family members themselves suffered psychiatric illnesses or psychological problems and very significant financial losses… their suffering has been acute.”
The report includes 17 case studies of those affected by the scandal including some who have never spoken publicly before. They include Millie Castleton, daughter of Lee Castleton, one of the first postmasters prosecuted.
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1:34
Three things you need to know about Post Office report
She told the inquiry how her family being “branded thieves and liars” affected her mental health, and contributed to a diagnosis of anorexia that forced her to drop out of university.
Her account concludes: “Even now as I go into my career, I still find it so incredibly hard to trust anyone, even subconsciously. I sabotage myself by not asking for help with anything.
“I’m trying hard to break this cycle but I’m 26 and am very conscious that I may never be able to fully commit to natural trust. But my family is still fighting. I’m still fighting, as are many hundreds involved in the Post Office trial.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the inquiry’s report “marks an important milestone for sub-postmasters and their families”.
He added that he was “committed to ensuring wronged sub-postmasters are given full, fair, and prompt redress”.
“The recommendations contained in Sir Wyn’s report require careful reflection, including on further action to complete the redress schemes,” Mr Reynolds said.
“Government will promptly respond to the recommendations in full in parliament.”