A terrified woman was viciously attacked by her heavy-drinking ex-boyfriend after she tried to climb into a caravan through a window in a desperate bid to retrieve her bank card – without him seeing her.
They had been arguing during an earlier drinking session and she decided to leave and go to a hotel. But she realised to her horror that she had forgotten her bank card – and went back to the caravan to try to get it.
The plan to sneak in through a window backfired badly and he saw her and punched her, causing her to fall inside, with “punches raining down” on her, Hull Crown Court heard.
Gareth Palmer, 43, of North Leys Road, Hollym, near Withernsea, admitted assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, between November 1 and 15, 2023.
Michael Masson, prosecuting, said that Palmer and the woman had been in an “on-off-off-again” relationship and, at the time, they were working together away in Chippenham, Wiltshire, and were staying at a campsite. They were in Palmer’s caravan in the early evening after they had been drinking together.
“Each had a bottle of wine,” said Mr Masson. They fell out later in the evening because Palmer playfully slapped the woman, which she did not like. “They then drove to a garage to get tobacco,” said Mr Masson. They were still arguing and Palmer was said to have told her: “I’ll take you back to the caravan and beat you up.”
The atmosphere became more argumentative and Palmer threatened to leave and drive home without her. He suddenly took out an electric plug for the caravan’s electricity facilities and lifted the metal shutters.
The woman decided to leave and her brother helped to book her into a nearby hotel but she soon realised that she had forgotten her bank card, which had all her access to money on it. She went back to the caravan and climbed through a window in an effort to try to avoid having to see Palmer again.
But, as she did so, he spotted her and punched her to her head and upper body. She tried to cover herself but fell into the caravan and landed on a sofa bed. Palmer thought that she had knocked and damaged a TV with her head and he was angry about this.
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“He pulled her up by her hair before punching her to her left eye socket,” said Mr Masson. “She suffered a bruised and swollen eye as a result. She describes punches raining down upon her and believes she may have lost consciousness briefly during the attack.”
The woman later said that the incident had a serious psychological impact on her and it took her a year to begin to trust people again. She had been left looking over her shoulder and she felt self-conscious or cautious about drinking with other people.
Holly Thompson, mitigating, said that Palmer had previous convictions, including driving matters, but none for violence or domestic violence. He had since kept out of trouble, with no further offending since November 2023.
Palmer had shown in a pre-sentence report that he wanted to apologise for his behaviour and he had shown regret for his actions. He accepted that he had been a “functioning alcohol” at the time and he was willing to work with the probation service to tackle this. He had moved away from the area after securing full-time employment in the Midlands.
Palmer was given a 45-week suspended prison sentence, 200 hours’ unpaid work, 30 days’ rehabilitation and a five-year restraining order. He was told to pay £1,000 costs.