He left his former partner with bruises and a cut lip but has been spared jail
Teesside Crown Court(Image: Terry Blackburn)
A controlling and obsessive partner slapped and punched his former girlfriend and threatened to stab her dog in a terrifying ordeal. Paul Parsons, 39, launched the violent attack after she locked him out of her home in October last year.
The pair had been out for the evening when Parsons, who had taken cocaine, slapped the woman “with full force across her face” and accused her of cheating. On Thursday, April 2, Teesside Crown Court heard Parsons had “exploded with anger” and “threw his partner across the kitchen” in the attack, TeessideLive reports.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, told the court that Parsons then left but took his victim’s house and car keys with him. He said: “She used the spare key to lock him out, but he came back, calling her a ‘scruffy c***’ and asking for a drink.”
The court heard that when the woman opened a window to pass him a drink outside, he “grabbed the window frame and forced his way inside.” Mr Gittins said: “He punched her all over her body and to her face.
“He punched her to the floor and punched her again. When her dog started barking at Parsons, he said he would stab the dog”.
Parsons then called his cousin and asked if he could stay with her. Mr Gittins continued: “He waited on the sofa for his relative to arrive and punched his partner again.”
When his cousin arrived, she saw the damage around the house and said she would call the police. Parsons then smashed a window by punching it.
When police arrived, Mr Gittins said Parsons told them he’d been “play fighting and having a laugh”. The victim suffered bruising all over her body and a cut lip.
The court was told that during the relationship, Parsons had demanded the code to the woman’s phone and repeatedly gone though her messages and photos. Mr Gittins said: “[Parsons] would zoom in on an innocuous photo and claim he could see a man.
“He would accuse her of cheating. He called her a ‘rat’ and a ‘s***’.”
Parsons later pleaded guilty to coercive control within the relationship; and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Gary Wood, defending, told the court that Parsons: “has never done anything like this before. Alcohol seems to be a problem for him”.
The 39-year-old has spent more than three months on remand since he was arrested and 102 days under house curfew, monitored by an electronic tag. Judge Armstrong told him: “I’m not going to send you back to prison today.
“You were in a relationship which became toxic. You were paranoid she was having relationships with other men.”
“You demanded access to her phone. You were verbally abusive to her.
“You punched her. You seriously assaulted her.
“You completely lost your temper. She was terrified, understandably so, and she wants a restraining order”.
Parsons, of Dalkeith Road in Hartlepool, was handed 18-months in prison suspended for two years. He was ordered to take part in an alcohol abstinence programme for three months; carry out 80 hours of unpaid work; attend a mental health treatment programme and 25 rehabilitation days.
He will also attended a ‘building better choices’ course run by the probation service. The judge made a restraining order to prohibit Parson from contacting his ex-partner for the next five years.
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