‘She was about to black out’
Drunk dad stood on partner’s head and tried to strangle her
DRUNKEN Craig Archbold tried to strangle his terrified girlfriend after an argument spilled over into violence.
The pair had been having pre-christmas drinks with neighbours when they found themselves alone after the guests had left.
Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard that Archbold, 53, of Lakeland Lodge, Rudyard, started to shout and scream at his partner.
Prosecutor Nick Tatlow said: “She put a coat on to leave.
But he grabbed her and pinned her against the door as she tried to get away.”
They fell to the floor and the defendant put both his hands round her neck. His victim later recalled how she couldn’t breathe.
“She was about to black out,” added Mr Tatlow. But the woman managed to summon the energy to retaliate and hit him.
Archbold, right, then stood up and kicked her in the face three or four times. He banged the back of her head against a kitchen unit.
One of the injuries she suffered resembled the pattern of a shoe.
The defendant would later concede he ‘must have stood on her head’ during the attack.
Now he has pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has been sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
The court was told he had been in a relationship with the woman for three months and there had been no previous signs of physical aggression towards her.
On December 23, 2019, they were enjoying a festive celebration at Rudyard Hotel. They then went back to Archbold’s flat, where they were joined by neighbours.
“The defendant became visibly drunk,” said
Mr Tatlow. The court heard after being left alone with his partner, he turned violent.
The woman finally managed to escape to a neighbour’s property, who called the police.
She went on to receive hospital treatment for serious bruising and swelling, although she had no broken bones.
When officers arrived to deal with the incident in the early hours of Christmas Eve, Archbold complained he had been injured by his partner.
He claimed his partner had bitten his lip and slapped him before he pushed her and they fell to the floor.
But he later admitted attacking her on the day he was due to stand trial.
In a victim personal statement, his now exgirlfriend said the trauma has left her unable to sleep properly, suffering flashbacks and feeling anxious in public.
Barry White, mitigating, said: “He struggles to understand how it all happened. It is not normal behaviour.”
Archbold had been too drunk to remember the details of the incident.
The court was told the father-of-four had experienced only one previous brush with the law three decades earlier.
Sentencing him, Judge David Fletcher said: “It was an unedifying incident and she was taken to hospital for treatment. Clearly, she was extremely upset and extremely affected by it.”
As part of the suspended sentence, Archbold must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days, including a ‘skills for relationships toolkit.’
He has also been ordered to pay £750 compensation and has been made subject to a five-year restraining order which bans him having contact with his victim.