Man thought he had killed ex after striking and choking her
A MAN who strangled his partner “thought he had killed her.” Luke Roberts believed the woman was unfaithful and he hit her on the head with an unopened wine bottle.
He then pushed her against a wall,. choking her until she fell unconscious. The victim came round to find herself on a mattress before police, who had been alerted by a neighbour, arrived.
Roberts, 32, of Church Street, Newborough, denied intentional strangulation in the incident in Deiniolen last August but later admitted the offence.
He was jailed at Mold Crown Court for 21 months and nine more months for breaching an earlier suspended sentence.
Prosecutor Karl Scholz said Roberts and the woman had been in a relationship for about six months.
She was vulnerable because she has epilepsy.
He returned to her flat in the afternoon on August 22 last year. She was in the kitchen and he accused her of being unfaithful.
She denied it and he became angry. Roberts picked up a carrier bag containing an unopened bottle of wine she had bought that day and hit her on the head with it.
Then Roberts put both hands around the woman’s throat. He held her against a kitchen wall and applied pressure, said Mr Scholz.
She lost consciousness for “a few minutes” and when she regained consciousness she found herself lying on a mattress, which was already there, on the living room floor.
Mr Scholz said: “She saw the defendant above her - crying. He did not try to stop her getting up.
“He told her he thought he had killed her.”
Almost immediately she heard footsteps on the stairs outside. Someone had rung 999 and it was the police arriving.
But the victim told officers she had had a “fit” and injured herself. So the police did not arrest Roberts for what he had just done, said Mr Scholz.
However by even being in the flat Roberts had breached a previous court order. As he was apprehended she told police what really happened.
The defendant initially denied intentional strangulation, claiming the woman had had a seizure and fallen to the floor. But admitted the crime before his trial.
In a statement the victim said she was nervous and thought Roberts might “get someone else to hurt her” while in custody.
She said she walks her dogs every day, adding: “If someone follows me and hurts me no-one would know about it.”
She added: “I’m worried about when (Roberts) gets out of prison. I want to be left alone. I’m concerned that when he gets out he will be angry with me and want to hurt me.”
Alexa Carrier, defending, said her client is remorseful. It had been a short-lived incident and he stopped voluntarily.
Roberts “did not tell (her) to lie to the police.”
She went on: “He is gutted things went the way they did” and it “plays on his mind.”
Imposing the jail terms, the judge The Recorder Wyn Lloyd Jones also made an indefinite restraining order prohibiting Roberts from contacting the victim or entering any premises she uses.
Over the video link from HMP Berwyn the defendant said he didn’t want anything more to do with her.
Police praised the victim’’s courage. Detective Constable Saran Henderson said: “We will not tolerate violent and inexcusable behaviour towards women.
“I commend the bravery of the victim for their part during this investigation. It isn’t easy to speak up following domestic incidents, but I would reassure anyone that we will always do our utmost to fully investigate any report and bring offenders to justice.”