Dentist subjected girlfriend to ‘catalogue of cowardly assaults’
ADENTIST subjected his partner to a series of assaults, including pushing her down the stairs, slapping her in the face, and poking her in the eye, a court has heard.
One of the attacks took place in a hotel while Jonathan Williams was on bail having been arrested for previous incidents.
Swansea Crown Court heard the assaults happened while Williams was subject to a restraining order banning him from contacting a previous partner due to his behaviour.
Craig Jones, prosecuting, said Williams and his new partner began a relationship in April last year, and at first all was well.
However, after Williams briefly ended the relationship in favour of a former girlfriend and then returned to it, his behaviour became increasingly “controlling and jealous”.
The court heard over the months matters continued to deteriorate, with the defendant’s controlling behaviour “descending into open aggression”.
The woman also became aware of Williams’ cocaine habit.
The first assault took place on December 14 last year following an argument at the victim’s home in the Gendros area of Swansea – she went upstairs to put some distance between the parties, but he followed her into the bedroom and grabbed her by the neck before slapping her face and poking her in the eye.
When she told him she was going to leave he told her if she did, he would punch himself in the face and tell the police she had done it.
The prosecutor said the second assault took place on January 4, at the same location.
The court heard both parties had been drinking alcohol, and following a row 44-year-old Williams dragged the woman to the floor and kicked her before pushing her down the stairs.
Mr Jones said that fortunately the woman only sustained bruising in the fall and was able to leave the house, but Williams followed her down the street trying to get her to return to the property, before striking her to the head and knocking her to the ground.
The barrister said witnesses were not able to say whether it had been a punch or a slap.
Police were called, and when the defendant was searched he was found to be in possession of two small bags of cocaine.
Williams was interviewed and released on bail on condition that he did not contact his victim, but within days he had done just that.
The court heard the couple met to discuss their future together, spending the night of January 9 in the flat of a friend in Swansea Marina, the night of January 10 in the Travelodge hotel in Swansea, and the night of January 11 in the Ibis hotel off Fabian Way on the outskirts of the city.
It was at the Ibis that the fourth and final assault took place when Williams pinned his victim to the bed and grabbed her by the mouth.
She was able to get away and fled to the reception desk where she raised the alarm.
Williams, of Balaclava Road, Glais,
Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of assault by beating and one count of the possession of cocaine when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Charges of making threats to kill were not pursued by the prosection.
Judge Paul Thomas QC described the events of December and January as a “catalogue of bullying, cowardly and vicious behaviour”, and said while it was evident from Williams’s background that he was an intelligent man he was clearly not able to control his emotions.
Giving the defendant credit for his guilty pleas, he sentenced him to 23 weeks for each of the four assaults, to run concurrently, making a total of 23 weeks. However, given the time he has served in prison since his remand into custody in March, he is likely to be released shortly.
Williams was also made the subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for the next three years.