Ayr doctor held knife to wife's throat, court told A DOCTOR held a knife to his wife's neck and kneed her in the stomach while she was pregnant, a court heard yesterday. Caroline Lever, 42, claimed her husband Michael, 44, attacked her on a number of occasions, including while she was pregnant, and held a knife to her neck and her son's neck and threatened to kill her. Ms Lever was giving evidence at her husband's trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, where he is accused of assaulting her between 1993 and 2001 at several properties in Edinburgh and Glasgow. She told the court that Lever, from Nether Auchendrane, Ayr, moved into her flat with her and her son, at Dowanhill Street, Glasgow, within a matter of months of them first dating. She described Lever as being "very much the disciplinarian" with regards to her son Patrick, who is now 20. Ms Lever told the court of an occasion when her husband allegedly attacked her at the flat. She said she remembered waking up with blood on her face and a sore head from where he had hit it off of the floor. She said: "I screamed for help and ran down the close and he brought me back up." The jury heard Lever punched her to the floor then "repeatedly" hit her head on the floor. Ms Lever described being "absolutely terrified" of him. The court heard that Lever was a locum doctor and they moved home a lot. They lived in Bournemouth and London, returning to Scotland in 1997. Ms Lever said they moved to hospital accommodation at Law Hospital, Carluke and recalled another attack that took place. Procurator fiscal depute Ruth Ross-Davie asked: "What physical condition were you in?" Ms Lever replied, "I was pregnant" and told the jury: "He strangled me over a table." Ms Ross-Davie asked: "How long did that go on for?" The witness replied: "I don't know, I just remember not being able to breathe." Ms Lever said she told a friend what happened but did not leave with her, for fear of what might happen. Ms Lever recalled another incident when her husband allegedly held a knife to her throat. She said: "Michael got angry at me. It was in the kitchen and he held a knife to my throat, said he was going to kill me. Patrick saw this and I think did something to Michael to try and prevent what was happening, then Michael turned round and held a knife to Patrick's throat, then he held it to his own throat. She said her son was about seven or eight at the time. Under cross-examination by solicitor advocate Tony McGlennan, it was put to Ms Lever that the couple had a "tempestuous" but not violent relationship. Ms Lever replied: "Absolutely not." Lever denies the charge and other charges against him, including an assault on his father.