An abusive man from Bristol strangled and stomped on his partner who he called a "spoilt brat". After she texted him the following day detailing the injuries she sustained, he replied: "I don't know my own strength".
Justin Brown, 37, of Pen Park Road in Bristol, attacked his former girlfriend at her home in Magor, Monmouthshire, on January 15 during a dispute about a lost e-cigarette. After she asked him to help look for the object, he "flew into a rage" and screamed at her, calling her "entitled", reports WalesOnline.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday (July 29) heard the defendant pushed the woman up against a wall and strangled her while squeezing her throat. Prosecutor Paul Hewitt said: "She fell onto the floor and was stomped on five to six times."
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After the assault, the victim locked herself in a bedroom as Brown continued shouting and swearing outside. The next day, she text him and told him to spend the night at his home in Bristol and he text her back saying "I don't know my own strength".
Brown was subsequently arrested and denied causing the injuries to the victim, claiming she had fallen down the stairs due to a lack of potassium because she suffered from POTS. While on bail, he wrote letters addressed to his ex-partner but included the victim's address, in which he put pressure on her to drop the charges.
The court heard how an earlier assault took place on New Year's Eve last year in Bristol city centre when the defendant became jealous when his partner danced with other people in a pub. He screamed at her and was told to leave the pub where he remained angry and the victim called herself a taxi.
As she tried to enter the taxi, Brown grabbed her by the arm forcefully and dragged her out of the vehicle, saying "She's coming home". The assault was witnessed by a crowd of people who remonstrated with the defendant and told him to leave his partner alone.
Brown later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault. The court heard he had previous convictions for harassment and common assault on another former partner.
Defence barrister Tom Roberts said his client now accepts his relationship with the victim is over and he would no longer try to contact her. He claimed there was a "realistic chance of rehabilitation" in the defendant's case and asked the court to consider a suspended sentence.
During sentencing, Recorder Simon Hughes said: "Not only do you minimise your offence, you continue to deny parts of the offence and blame parts of your conduct on the victim. There is no prospect of rehabilitation in your case." Brown was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and was made subject to a restraining order.
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