Bishop Auckland brute beat pregnant partner with chair…

Bishop Auckland brute beat pregnant partner with chair leg and strangled her until she passed-out

A man beat his pregnant partner with a chair leg and strangled her until she passed-out during a vicious attack.

Kenneth Chisholm left his partner with numerous injuries, including bruising and swelling to her face, after dragging her around by her hair and subjecting her to a violent beating on August 11 this year. When the 35-year-old was arrested, he admitted, "I shouldn't have brayed her", before going on to kick two officers back at the police station.

Chisholm, of Simpson Road, West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday via video link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, said Chisholm and the woman had only been in a relationship a couple of months before the attack and that the woman was also considered vulnerable as she had been subjected to domestic violence in several previous relationships. He told the court that police were called by a witness who saw the woman near a Spennymoor address "screaming and shouting" before being "dragged back into a property by her hair from behind".

Police soon arrived and found the woman "visibly upset in the street" while Chisholm became "immediately aggressive". Mr Cleasby said: "The complainant was saying the defendant had hit her with a chair leg and she had numerous injuries. She had bruising and swelling to her face and lower limbs. She also had marks on her neck consistent with strangulation injury. At hospital, she indicated she was hit in the ribs with a chair leg. She said he was regularly violent to her but it had intensified when she found out she was pregnant."

The court heard that during the attack, Chisholm bit the woman on her cheek and "strangled her to the point she passed out". When he was arrested he was "aggressive" to police, telling them he was going to "stick one on them" whilst shouting at the woman and calling her a "grass". Chisholm had also taken the woman's phone to prevent her calling for help, which was "an indication of his controlling nature".

When Chisholm was taken back to the police station he "kicked out" at two officers and hit them, while shouting he would "knock their chins off". Mr Cleasby said during the journey to the police station, he told the officers "I shouldn't have brayed her", but in interview he gave no comment and lied, saying the woman sustained injuries in a fight with another woman days earlier.

The court heard that the woman was "expressing a great deal of fear" and made it clear how scared she was of Chisholm when police turned up. She said at one point she also feared she would die.

Jonathan Walker, defending, said Chisholm, who made foul-mouthed outbursts throughout the hearing, had taken a "mature and sensible approach to the evidence" and had pleaded guilty. He said: "He has a reflective attitude and remorse for his actions. It was largely out of character for the defendant and the most potent mitigation are his pleas."

Recorder Thomas Moran, sentencing Chisholm, said: "You hit her with a chair leg. She told you she was pregnant and you punched her and strangled her to the point she passed out." The Recorder added Chisholm had shown "no remorse whatsoever" and carried out the attack when the woman was struggling to deal with the suicide of her mother. Chisholm was jailed for 21 months.

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