The man who went viral when a wedding gown he purchased “broke the internet” has been charged with an attempt to murder his wife. Keir Johnston, 38, rose to fame after his 2015 wedding when the mother of the bride wore a gown that caused a global controversy about whether it was black and blue or white and gold.
The 38-year-old is now accused of frequently assaulting his wife at their residence on the Isle of Colonsay. Johnston appeared in Glasgow’s High Court on Monday, accused of carrying out an almost 11-year campaign of significant domestic violence and coercive control, culminating in his attempt to murder his wife.
Between April 2019 and March 2022, Johnston is accused of slamming his wife against a wall, shouting at her, throttling her, threatening to kill her, and waving a knife at her. He is also accused of attempting to enter a vehicle in which his wife was riding, striking her through an open window. After his wife refused to leave with him, Johnston allegedly put her in a headlock and dragged her from a pub.
According to the accusations, Johnston separated his wife from her friends and tracked her whereabouts and finances, restricting the amount of money she had access to. When the pair first made headlines, the image of the outfit received up to 11,000 tweets per minute under the hashtag ”#TheDress’. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift also chipped in.
Johnston appeared in Glasgow’s High Court
Johnston’s actions reportedly resulted in a new charge that he pushed his wife to the ground and sat astride her on March 6, 2022. According to the Crown, Johnston’s acts were carried out with the purpose to murder his wife. The 38-year-old rejects all charges, and the case has been extended for another preliminary hearing before a trial in 2024.
