A violent groom broke his wife's back just weeks after their wedding and then refused to take her to hospital. Jonathan Hall, 45, repeatedly kicked his new wife, Amanda Lomax, who feared she would die as she lay defenceless on the floor.
The horrific attack came weeks after the couple were married. Following two further attacks, Amanda bravely went to the police and is now rebuilding her life after Hall was this week jailed for 27 months.
Mum-of-two Amanda, 51, says: "I had put up with years and years of abuse and I was completely brainwashed. I actually believed the attacks were my fault. Less than a month after we got married, he attacked me and broke my back.
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"Strangely, it was only when my Mum fractured her wrist that the turning point came. I helped her out, driving her around. I realised this was the sort of normal life I didn’t have. I knew then that I had to put a stop to the violence.
"I just hope that my story will reach other women; it’s so important to walk away before it’s too late."
Amanda met Hall, a joiner, six years ago and they began dating. Within months, he had moved into her home in Warrington.
She says: "I had been living in Spain, I had a good job there in sales, but came back to the UK with ill-health. It was a difficult time for me, my confidence was low, and Jonathan really cheered me up.
"He had his own problems, but he seemed kind and caring. We were friends at first and then it got more serious."
But within six months, he had become violent. She says: "He pushed me, and I fell and cut my head on the step. He said it was a complete accident and he had a way of talking that actually made me believe him.
"Another time, my hairdresser told me that he had a violent past, but Jonathan talked his way out of that too. He was very persuasive. He had an answer for everything."
But in July 2017, on their first holiday together to celebrate Amanda’s 46th birthday, Jonathan flew into a rage and attacked her, leaving her face so swollen that she could not open her eyes. On another occasion, he pulled her arm behind her back until it snapped. She had surgery but has been left with lasting damage to her elbow.
She says: "When he was drunk, he’d get angry if I talked back at him. He did not like anyone arguing back, especially when he was drinking. He made me feel it was my fault every time, because he claimed I had answered him back."
Amanda’s mother, Anne, and her wider family pleaded with her to leave him, but she was completely under his control. In September 2021, the couple were married.
Amanda says: "I really thought our wedding was a new start. We had a lovely day, but my family boycotted the ceremony because they hated him."
The following month, again in a petty argument, Jonathan attacked Amanda, kicking her to the floor and refusing to stop despite her pleas. He would not let her go to hospital and it was only the following day, when she went to A and E in agony, that she discovered her back was broken and she had fractured five ribs.
She spent nine days in hospital on morphine and afterwards wore a back brace for months. She has ongoing pain and lasting damage to her back.
She says: "I told the doctors I had fallen downstairs because I was so ashamed. Again, I thought it was my fault.
"Jonathan was really nice to me when I came home from hospital. I did not dare question why the man who had put me in hospital was now fussing over me, as though none of it was his fault."
Earlier this year, Amanda’s mother broke her wrist, and she stepped in to look after her and drive her around. Amanda says: "I started to see what I was missing out on; a normal life. I wouldn’t wish a broken wrist on my mum of course, but that was the turning point for me. It gave me some clarity of thought and I realised I had to go to the police."
Earlier this week, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Hall, from Warrington, has 12 previous convictions for 19 offences - including for affray, assault, drink driving, drunk and disorderly behaviour and 'dishonesty'. He was also convicted of harassment against a former partner in 2016, for which he received a community order.
Amanda says: "I was appalled by his previous offences. I’d had no idea."
Hall admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and two counts of assault and, appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, was jailed for two years and three months. He was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting Amanda or entering her street indefinitely and was told to pay a victim surcharge.
Sentencing, Recorder Kevin Slack said: "It would appear there was a history of violence in that relationship. The victim's mother states that she was so appalled at the prospect of you marrying her that she refused to attend the wedding.
"She was right to be concerned, because within a few weeks you gratuitously attacked Ms Lomax in the family home. It seems alcohol lies behind your violent behaviour.
"She pleaded with you to stop, but you continued. The force was so strong that she feared she was going to die.
"The physical pain continues, but so does the psychological trauma which resulted from your attack upon her. You do at least recognise that alcohol abuse fuels the anger you seem to be unable to control in your relationships.
"Verbal abuse tipped over into physical abuse of the most serious kind. I hope the sentence I am about to pass will give you time to reflect on your past behaviour and let you consider how you may change how you are going to conduct yourself in the future for the benefit of yourself and any future partner.
"This was a persistent assault which continue after Ms Lomax pleaded with you to stop. She was lying on the floor, making her vulnerable - you kicked her, using your foot as a weapon."
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