A man threatened his wife with a hammer after he grew frustrated with her drinking during a family day out to the seaside. Vishal Kapoor, 37, lost his temper at Meena Gadhu and told her that he would "f*****g kill her" in front of his two young children and horrified onlookers at a petrol station in Barry.
Kapoor, of Wednesfield Road, Wolverhampton, had driven his family to south Wales for a day at the beach and faced a 130-mile journey back to the West Midlands when he snapped at Ms Gadhu and called her an "alcy" and a "f*****g drunk". After stopping at the petrol station mid-argument, he left without her, before driving back at speed, nearly hitting her with the car and brandishing the hammer while making threats to kill her.
He appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday, August 9 having previously pleaded guilty to affray as well as possession of 9.2g of cannabis, which was found on him after his arrest at the petrol station. He had earlier denied assault by beating and making threats to kill, which sent the case to trial, but Ms Gadhu - whom he is now separated from - withdrew her support for the prosecution's case.
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Ieuan Bennett, prosecuting, told the court that at around 11.15pm on June 13, 2021, two men who were attending to their car at the Asda petrol station off Ffordd Y Mileniwm in Barry noticed a white BMW pull on to the forecourt. At first, it seemed that the driver was simply going to pull up at the pump to fill up his car, but they saw that there was "somewhat of a commotion" going on inside the car, with a man in the driver's seat shouting at a woman in the front passenger seat while two young children sat in the back.
They saw Kapoor get out of the car and slam the door while shouting at Ms Gadhu. He filled up his car with petrol and then got back into the vehicle, where he argued with his wife for around five minutes, before she got out of the car, holding a cider can. As she did so, he wound down the window and told her: "You are a f*****g drunk", before starting the car and driving off, leaving her on the forecourt while he drove around the car park.
The two men approached Ms Gadhu, who was visibly distressed, before calling 999 and asking police to attend the scene. Moments later, Kapoor drove back onto the forecourt and pulled up before telling her: “Get in the f*****g car, we have a four-and-a-half hour journey”.
Mr Bennett added that when Ms Gadhu refused, the defendant got out of the car holding a hammer. Brandishing the tool, he said: "This is what happens when you drink, you alcy," adding: "“I will f*****g kill you here and now if that’s what you want. If I can’t kill you I will pay someone else to do it.” She replied: "Yeah, go on then," but Kapoor made no efforts to injure her.
The men then stepped in again in an effort to get the pair to calm down. Kapoor walked away from the car with one of the men and hit a nearby metal box with the hammer in frustration, before explaining that his wife had been drinking all day and they had a long journey back home ahead of them.
The defendant then got back in the car again and drove off before returning shortly after, travelling at great speed onto the forecourt and coming close to hitting his wife with the car. Get the latest stories from the courts across Wales by signing up to our Crime & Punishment newsletter.
Officers from South Wales Police then arrived on the scene and drew their tasers at Kapoor before he was arrested. During a search of the vehicle, they found the hammer as well as 9.2g of cannabis. He was taken to Cardiff Bay police station and interviewed, where he denied any unlawful behaviour.
He later entered a guilty plea to affray on the day of his trial. Mr Bennett added that the 37-year-old had a "long list" of previous convictions although these largely relate to the possession of cannabis and driving offences before 2013.
Defence counsel Lachlan Stewart, mitigating, said that while his client had numerous prior convictions, he had committed the offences he was being sentenced for "in the heat of the moment". He added that there was a "strong prospect of rehabilitation" for Kapoor, who has four children.
“This was a relatively short domestic incident where the defendant has clearly lost his temper," said Mr Stewart. "It was a heat of the moment incident, and nobody was injured. The hammer was being waved but not in the direction of the victim, and the threats to kill were also made in the heat of the moment.
"On the night in question, Ms Gadhu had got out of the car at 11pm with a can of cider. They had to drive back to Birmingham for four hours.. This argument was not a one way street either, as Ms Gadhu was also shouting “I will get you killed".
"I acknowledge that he has a number of convictions but his offending stopped in 2013 bar two more recent possession offences. He is a family man and a father of four."
Sentencing Kapoor, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said his behaviour was "disproportionate" and had left his victim "shaken and upset". In determining his sentence, he noted that he had not entered a guilty plea until the day of his trial but also acknowledged that he had "largely stayed out of trouble" for around eight years.
“You were berating and swearing at your wife and brandishing a hammer towards her," he said. "You drove off with your two young children in the back of the car as a sign that you were going to leave her there. You had been on a day out at the seaside before this incident.
“You showed this behaviour in front of your children and the two men who intervened at the petrol station. They were worried for Ms Gadhu’s welfare and said that she was shaken and upset by what you had done. You clearly lost your temper but your behaviour was disproportionate.”
Kapoor was spared jail and sentenced to a two-year community order, during which he must complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and attend 30 sessions of a Building Better Relationships course. He must pay costs of £1,200 as well as a court charge of the same amount, while a forfeiture and destruction order was made for the hammer and cannabis, for which he faced no separate penalty.
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