Man beat up his partner after she visited strip show
A MAN falsely imprisoned his partner and threatened to kill her while holding a screwdriver to her neck after she went to see a male strip show.
Richard Badman, 51, attacked his then partner Wendy Fry at his home in Pontypool between November 6 and 7 last year.
Newport Crown Court heard Badman became enraged after he found out Ms Fry had gone to see a show called Forbidden Nights at the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran.
Ms Fry had told the defendant she was going for a meal with friends as he would have prevented her from going had he known about the event, but he found out about it after a friend posted videos of the show on social media.
That evening Badman sent a numerous phone calls and abusive messages to Ms Fry and he turned up at her home at 11am, told her to get in the car and drove her to his home in Penylan Road, Varteg.
Over the course of that night and the following morning, Badman held a pillow over her face, held a screwdriver to her neck and sprayed her with CS gas, as well as punching, kicking, headbutting and biting her.
He also told his victim he was going to kill her and she would be “going out of here in a box” and “No one is f****** coming here, you’re my hostage”.
Ms Fry managed to escape on the morning of November 7 after climbing through a living room window before heading to a neighbour’s house for help but Badman went after her and tried to drag back into the house.
He was later arrested but denied counts of making threats to kill, false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The defendant was found guilty of all three counts by a jury on August 27.
In a victim personal statement read out to the court at Badman’s sentencing, Ms Fry said: “This incident has really affected me. I haven’t been able to sleep and I’m scared to death, I jump at every noise.
“I am really worried about being on my own since then. I have always been with someone. It’s made me feel like a nervous wreck and I keep thinking I am lucky to be alive. If I hadn’t got out of that window I would have been gone, he would have killed me.
“I was living my life to keep him happy and stop him kicking off but now I feel relief I am finally rid of him. I should have got out sooner but I was scared of him, he ruled my life and pulled me away from family. He only wanted me to be with him.
“It’s taken something like this to happen to me to be rid of him.”
Prosecutor Marian Lewis said Badman had pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice after sending a letter from prison to a neighbour asking her to tell Ms Fry to drop the charges against him.
An extract from the letter read “Tell her she’ll be the one in the s*** for pepper spraying me and she’s got a lot to lose. I will be telling the crown court judge the truth about what she did to me and when I am found not guilty she’s the one who will lose her job the silly cow.”
He also said: “If she withdraws the statements I will not bother her again.”
Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said only an immediate custodial sentence could be justified.
He added: “You subjected her to a long and sadistic episode of violence. You kicked her and punched her and bit her mouth and nose. You threatened to kill her and held a screwdriver to her neck and sprayed her with CS gas.
“I am entirely satisfied you were punishing Ms Fry because she had gone out to enjoy herself.”
As well as being sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, Badman was given a restraining order for five years.