A violent and jealous bully repeatedly strangled his terrified girlfriend during a nasty attack after he suddenly lost his temper and accused her of cheating on him.
Heavy-drinking and aggressive Malcolm Bennett confronted the woman after she returned home in the early hours. He threatened to kill her before demanding to know where she had been and who she had been with while she was out, Hull Crown Court heard.
Bennett, 47, of Lynmouth Close, Bransholme, Hull, but recently in custody on remand, admitted offences of intentional strangulation and assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, on October 13.
Michael Forrest, prosecuting, said that Bennett and the woman had previously been in a relationship. Problems arose between them when he believed that she was cheating on him.
“She returned home in the early hours of the morning and the defendant confronted her about this,” said Mr Forrest. There was an argument between them and it escalated into violence.
Bennett dragged the woman into the kitchen and threw her into a sideboard, pinning her down as he did so. She told him that he had hurt her but he told her: “Hurt ya? I’m going to f***ing kill you.”
He dragged her to the floor and knelt on her chest, restricting her breathing, before grabbing her around her throat with his hands. “The defendant grabbed her by her throat and strangled her a total of three times,” said Mr Forrest. On each occasion, she struggled to breathe.
Bennett shouted at her: “Where have you been? Who have you been with?” She suffered bruises and red marks to her neck and arms. She struggled with Bennett and ran to the living room to collect her dog before managing to escape out of the house and into the street.
He followed her and punched her to her face, causing swelling and bruising to her left ear. He kicked her dog twice but did not cause an injury to it.
“The incident in the street was seen by a neighbour and she contacted the police,” said Mr Forrest. The police arrived shortly afterwards and Bennett was arrested before being taken to Clough Road police station, Hull.
Rachel Scott, mitigating, said that Bennett had no previous convictions for violence and he had kept out of trouble since 2014. “He has shown true remorse for his actions,” said Miss Scott.
At the time of the incident, the woman had given Bennett an ultimatum – either stop drinking or leave her. He stopped drinking and, at the time of the offences, he was suffering the side effects of withdrawing from alcohol. He had been an alcoholic but he had tackled his drinking problem while in prison on remand.
There was a positive reference for him from a prison chaplain and he was now committed to his faith. He had worked all his adult life and he had previously sought help for his problems for 18 months but things went downhill when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and he turned back to alcohol.
Bennett was jailed for 20 months and he was given a five-year restraining order.