A man whose callous and over-zealous penny-pinching led to his humiliated girlfriend considering taking her own life has been ordered to pay her £250 compensation for domestic abuse.
Power plant operator Michael Marsh, 55, became so "obsessed" with saving money and building a pension pot, he refused to share any cash with his live-in-lover Aileen Till.
Despite inheriting a substantial estate from his late mother, tight-fisted Marsh ordered long suffering Miss Till, 54, to get up at night and check there were no logs missing from their outside their shed and rationed dishwasher tablets as he believed she was giving them away.
Miss Till, a business manageress, would have to falsely claim she had been treated to lunch whenever she met her daughter to avoid Marsh rebuking her for spending money.
She was also banned from buying presents for her grandchildren.
When Miss Till eventually stood up to Marsh, he made her sleep on the storm porch outside their home when it was raining.
She was eventually evicted from the £300,000 property she shared with him in Warrington, Cheshire after a violent bust up. She later said the abuse she suffered made her contemplate jumping off a bridge.
At Chester magistrates court, Marsh who now lives in Bournemouth, was convicted of coercive behaviour and assault and was sentenced to 26 weeks jail suspended for 12 months.
He also ordered that he undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and was banned from contacting Miss Till for two years under the terms of a restraining order. He has since agreed to give a £10,000 share of the house where they lived together.
The court heard Marsh had inherited a large amount of cash from his late mother in 2019 but was so focused on money he would claim even the homeless should have savings.
During their 15 year relationship he had bought a home for him and Miss Till in cash and took out a £50,000 loan for renovation work which she helped pay towards.
But Miss Till, a senior customer relations manageress for an energy company, told an earlier hearing: "He did not share any of the money and would spend it on car registrations - he was completely obsessed with them."
She described how Marsh became obsessed that their neighbour was stealing logs from their shed and made her get up in the early hours of the morning and count them.
He also would ration out the dishwasher tablets she had bought while shopping as he claimed she was selling them to her daughter.
"Every time I went to put the dishwasher on I thought I was going mad as there was only one in the bag," Miss Till recalled.
Miss Till said Marsh was so "obsessed" with money he would not allow her to spend any cash on her daughter or grandchildren, aged six and eight, or buy her friends gifts. Though she had her own bank account and savings, he said that all their spare money should go "into the pot" towards a retirement-type home they were hoping to buy on the island of Anglesey in North Wales.
She would meet her daughter when Marsh was on shift so he didn't know, and if he found out she would claim her daughter bought her lunch or breakfast.
Emily Comer, prosecuting said: ""Mr Marsh began accusing Ms Till of stealing from him which did not have any basis. He abused her and called her names, such as calling her 'fat' and 'fat slag', and saying 'You are disgusting', 'No-one wants you', 'You deserve to be abused' and 'Everyone hates you'.
"The language was used on a regular basis and not always in anger. It had a very serious effect on her mental health. She also says that as she was blamed for everything, when things started going wrong, because he had been using that language for so long she started to believe what he was saying."
Miss Comer said the victim would be locked out of the property on various occasions if she had just gone out for any reason. "She felt she was being treated like a dog, and felt humiliated and ashamed of what the neighbours would say," Miss Comer said.
"On one occasion after being with Marsh and whilst feeling incredibly low, she went to a bridge and contemplated throwing herself in the river."
Miss Till didn't have her grandchildren in the house for at least a year because Marsh didn't want them there and didn't like her seeing other people.
In mitigation defence solicitor Peter Barnett said Marsh continued to deny the charges and added: ""They have been separated since October. The complainant moved out in April, the beginning of May. The property is owned by the defendant and is in process of being sold.
"The complainant received a £10,000 cash sum for her interest in the property in the first week of May. Since then, they have had no direct contact. The defendant is of a mind to sever his ties with the area.
"He is still employed at a power station in Liverpool, where he is a plant operator. On his days off, he spends his time in the south of the country as and when he feels able to go.
"Clearly the relationship deteriorated, a relationship of some 15 years and it is quite clear that the complainant believed that there was infidelity. She feels that she was let down by the dissolution of the relationship."
District Judge Jack McGarva also ordered Marsh to pay £748 in costs and victim surcharge and told him. "This is a serious pair of offences. Coercive and controlling behaviour in a relationship is very insidious and covers a wide range of conduct - and in this case the conduct went on for a very long time, almost two years.
"It was prolonged and persistent conduct and it caused serious alarm or distress which had a substantial adverse effect on the victim."
