Serial burglar strangled his girlfriend in hotel room
A PROLIFIC burglar mocked his girlfriend for being scared of him, sent her a message saying “I’m going to f ****** stab you” and strangled her in a hotel room until she passed out, a court heard.
Phillip Thompson, 35, had known his victim for around 20 years by the time they started a relationship.
In September 2022 his partner was due to travel to Manchester with her brother for the day, something which Thompson, of Pine Court, Tongwynlais, Cardiff, was not in favour of.
He told her what would happen to her if she did travel and threatened to “smash her house up”.
After being told to leave, Thompson grabbed his victim by the neck and pushed her.
He then made her give him a lift to work, where he taunted her about how scared she was.
At a sentencing hearing held at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, the court was told by prosecution barrister Jac Brown that Thompson’s partner returned from Manchester on September 30, 2022.
The victim picked Thompson up but he would not get out of the car when he reached his destination, grabbing the keys from the ignition and causing the car to stop in the road.
He then punched his victim and later continued to send her “threatening and abusive” messages.
On one occasion, on the evening of November 14, 2022, he sent her a message which included the words “I’m going to f ****** stab you”.
A few weeks later, the couple agreed to go away together to Gower Golf Club in Swansea.
At one stage, the complainant returned to her room to pack her bag as a result of Thompson’s behaviour after the couple had been drinking.
Mr Brown told the court: “He choked her and threw her into the desk.
“He grabbed her by the throat and put her on the bed and choked her until she passed out. In a statement, she said she thought she was going to die”.
Several people at the golf club heard the commotion and the police were called.
When officers arrived, they found Thompson crouching behind a car.
He attempted to run away but fell down a bank, where he was detained by officers and arrested.
Mr Brown also told the court that as well as Thompson’s offences against his then-partner he was also guilty of a “spree” of burglaries in Cardiff between October 2023 and January this year.
They included stealing packages
meant for residents after entering a block of flats, where Thompson was caught on CCTV emptying parcels into a delivery bag he had brought with him.
He also stole from student accommodation The Bakery in Cardiff.
One victim let Thompson in on his way out of his flat and returned a short time later to notice several items had been stolen, including an X-Box, a wallet containing £1,000 in cash, an iPad, and £375 worth of Warhammer models.
The court also heard Thompson used bank cards he had stolen.
In mitigation, defence barrister Neil Evans told the court his client “became addicted to spice” during a previous term of imprisonment, and he was “a man that had always been in employment but at that stage clearly his addiction spiralled out of control”.
Mr Evans added: “When he was sober he was a pleasure to be around. When he was on drugs he was the opposite.”
Judge Richard Kember was told that Thompson had 21 previous convictions for 38 offences before sentencing the defendant for intentional strangulation, coercive or controlling behaviour, six counts of dwelling burglaries, four counts of non-dwelling burglaries, two counts of fraud, and a charge of failing to surrender to answer bail.
In passing sentence, Judge Kember said: “Taking the offences together and taking into account your previous offences, that aggravates the starting point [of the sentencing].”
Thompson was sentenced to a total of seven years, one month and 28 days in prison.