Halloween horror: Cowardly brute strangled partner and…

Halloween horror: Cowardly brute strangled partner and stamped on her in terrifying Blyth attack

A cowardly brute strangled his partner to the point she thought she was about to die when a Halloween party ended in a horrific attack.

John Wilson and the woman had attended her sister's house and all was going well until he suddenly lost his temper and hit her with a bottle. The woman returned home and Wilson then saw red again and ended up throttling her for so long she felt she was about to lose consciousness before stamping on her.

Now he has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court for what a judge branded a "cowardly" and "terrifying" attack in Blyth, Northumberland.

It was on October 29 last year they went to a halloween party at the victim's sister's home. There were no issues until around 10.45pm when the woman was talking to people in the kitchen and Wilson suddenly approached her and said, out of the blue, "are you starting".

The perplexed victim asked what he meant and she then felt a heavy blow to the back of her head when he swung a litre glass bottle at her and struck her. She felt unsteady as a result and others at the party challenged him.

The victim returned to her home, on the same street as her sister's, in Blyth, and Wilson then also arrived there. He asked the woman where his BB gun was and said he wanted to return to the party to shoot someone.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: "The defendant became angry and demanded to know where the gun was. She tried to reason with him and he picked up a television in the bedroom and threw it at her, hitting her on the arm.

"He put both hands around her neck, pressing down on her windpipe and squeezing it hard. She felt she couldn't breathe at all. She tried to shout but couldn't get any breath.

"She said she felt like he did it for several minutes and she felt dizzy and felt she was going to pass out and thought she was going to die if he didn't leave go soon.

"He let go then stamped on her three or four times with a lot of force and she felt extreme pain as a consequence."

The woman eventually managed to get away from him. She was left with bruising and scratches to her neck and a lump othe back of her head.

In a victim impact statement, she said the attack had affected her mental health and she keeps having visions of the events, adding; "I no longer feel safe in my own home."

Wilson, 34, of no fixed address, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to non-fatal strangulation and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was jailed for 16 months and given a five-year restraining order.

Judge Edward Legard told him: "In what can only have been the most terrifying experience for her she was unable to even shout out for help. She couldn't get her breath. She panicked and thought she was going to die.

"This was a particularly distressing and frightening experience for her. It was a prolonged and persistent assault.

"Nothing can excuse or condone unprovoked violence of this appalling nature. These offences were a cowardly, unprovoked attack, an unpleasant offence of domestic abuse visited on a vulnerable woman and they were terrifying to her when she was panicking and thinking she was about to lose her life.

"Those in a relationship must be able to trust their partners and feel safe in their presence at all times. The courts will not tolerate this kind of behaviour."

Penny Hall, defending, said: "He can't quite believe himself he acted in the way he did that night. He is deeply ashamed of himself and remorseful.

"There was, perhaps, some jealousy at the other house but he can't explain why he acted in the way he did. He is terrified about the prospect of going to prison."

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