Kentish Express Ashford & District
Man cleared of attacking his ex
A man has been cleared of attacking his ex-partner and smashing up her flat after the pair of them had been drinking together one afternoon in February.
Tracey Fielden told a jury at Canterbury Crown Court that she fought for her life during a struggle with David Waller, 49, and said at one stage he tied a belt around her neck.
But Waller, of Greenhill Lane, Egerton, said he did not lay a finger on her and did not smash any of her property.
He told the court she had inflicted her injuries herself and had broken her own belongings.
He denied assaulting Miss Fielden, destroying her property and making a threat to kill her on February 13 and was cleared of all charges.
Mary Jacobson, prosecuting, said the couple’s relationship had broken up. Miss Fielden said Waller had gone to her flat in Ashford and they had a row and he attacked her, hurting her arm and neck and cutting her face.
She told the jury: “Both of us were throwing things. I was fighting Dave.
“He had me by the neck and everything was going everywhere.
“I had glasses smashed everywhere and my television was smashed. I thought I was going to die. “I was fighting for my life.” The court heard that Waller had previously assaulted Miss Fielden in January 2013 and had punched her in March 2013.
Cross-examined by Anthony Montgomery, defending Waller, Miss Fielden said she accidentally broke her television and probably broke her cabinet and the glasses.
Mr Montgomery accused Miss Fielden of causing her own injuries to get Waller into trouble, which she denied.
Waller said he went to the flat after they split up to recover belongings.
He said he told her he was going to start a new life elsewhere and said she ran into the bathroom and cut her wrists.
He said: “I didn’t touch her. I did not smash anything.”