‘Controlling’ boyfriend dragged partner by hair

A MAN called his partner “stupid” and “pathetic”, dragged her by her hair, and held his hands around her throat until she struggled to breathe.

Jealous Richard Lovell convinced Paula Browne to leave her job, checked her phone repeatedly and made her delete her male friends from Facebook as he tried to control her.

In a statement read out at Cardiff Crown Court, Ms Browne said: “Richard needs to know his behaviour is not acceptable.”

Nik Strobl, prosecuting, said they started seeing each other in summer 2018 and it seemed like the “perfect relationship” at first.

The court heard the pair started living together, moving between each other’s houses, but by the end of that year Lovell was becoming aggressive.

Prosecutors said he convinced Ms Browne to leave her job at Bristol Airport and she started working at St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff.

Mr Strobl told the court: “His behaviour deteriorated further. He would regularly scream in her face. He became controlling of her.”

The court heard the controlling behaviour started in March 2019 when he checked her phone, turned up at her work, and made her delete her male friends from Facebook.

Later that month they were arguing in the garden and he threw a rugby ball “full force” at her stomach.

On May 4 they were arguing in Cathedral Road. Mr Strobl said: “He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the ground, shouting at her.”

Three weeks later he again grabbed her hair. She pushed him away and told him never to do it again.

The following week he swore at her and called her “stupid” and “pathetic”. The court heard he pinned her against the wall and put his hands around her neck until she struggled to breathe.

Mr Strobl said the defendant hit Ms Browne to the back of her head three times and threw her to the floor. She went upstairs to get her belongings and asked him for a moment to calm down, as she was shaking, but he hit her head again.

The court heard she was crying as she asked him why he hit her. She sent a message to a friend saying: “He’s beaten me up.”

Ms Browne reported his offending and said she was an “emotional wreck” the day she went to the police but Lovell needed to know what he did was wrong.

She added: “I was having trouble sleeping at night due to the stress of the situation. I was always looking over my shoulder.”

Prosecutors said Lovell called her on May 31, 2019 – before he was arrested – and threatened her but did not realise she was recording the call.

He told her: “I know where you live. I know what car you’ve got. You’re not safe. See what happens to you.”

Lovell was arrested on June 2, 2019, and interviewed the following day at the police station in Merthyr Tydfil.

He accepted he was in a relationship with Ms Browne but denied checking her phone, stopping her from seeing friends, or assaulting her.

The defendant accepted he would shout sometimes but claimed he only did so when she shouted at him first.

Prosecutors said he had 28 previous offences on his record. He was given a conditional discharge in 2000 for assaulting his then-partner. His last conviction was in 2013 for possessing drugs.

Lovell, 57, from Trem Y Fforest in Llanharry, initially denied controlling or coercive behaviour and four counts of assault.

He changed his plea on the day his trial was due to start following a Goodyear direction from the judge who indicated he would pass a maximum nine-month suspended sentence. Lucy Crowther, for Lovell, said he was now in a new relationship, engaged to be married, and has moved on.

In his sentencing remarks Judge Richard Williams said: “You became jealous and controlling. You made the complainant’s life a misery.”

He noted a pre-sentence report found Lovell to present a high risk to partners and said: “This pattern of behaviour needs to be addressed.”

Lovell was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete the Building Better Relationships programme plus 10 days of rehabilitation.

The judge ordered him to pay £250 towards costs and made a five-year restraining order.

■ If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic violence, visit the Live Fear Free website or call the helpline on 0808 80 10 800.