Man Gouges Out Ex-Girlfriend's Eye, Throws It Over Balcony

A Scottish man was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday after he was convicted of gouging out his ex-girlfriend's eye, tossing it over an eighth-floor balcony and then trying to also throw her over the balcony.

The Daily Mail reports that the judge in the case called the crime committed by Francis Murphy, 26, against Natalie Farrell, 27, an "almost medieval barbarity."

During the trial, Farrell recalled her night of terror when a drunk and high Murphy had gone to her apartment and attacked her by gouging out her eye. She said the couple had broken up after a 10-year relationship and that she had just moved into her apartment. She had recently begun to date someone new and Murphy wasn't taking it too well.

"He always told me if he couldn't have me, nobody else could have me," Farrell said.

She said Murphy gouged out her eye with his fingers and then strangled her until she blacked out. Because she was high on adrenaline, Farrell said she didn't feel any of the pain initially.

Murphy then dragged her feet toward the edge of the balcony, but stopped short of pushing her off.

Murphy claimed to have had no memory of any of the events that night. Farrell is now blind in one eye, but is working on getting an artificial eye fitted.

While eye-gouging is viewed as a punishable crime in many countries, in others it's considered a form of punishment. Iran and Saudi Arabia are the only two countries in the world that use eye-gouging as a legitimate form of judicial punishment, according to Human Rights Watch .