Wife bids to reverse restraining order against ‘assault’ husband

AFORMER soldier, intoxicated by drink and drugs, bound his wife with tape and, armed with a knife, threatened to kill her, following a row which began over feeding cats.

Christopher Meredith was jailed for two years last September for assault by beating, making threats to kill and false imprisonment, following the incident at the couple’s home in Tir y Farchnad, Gowerton.

The 46-year-old was also made the subject of a restraining order. He returned to Swansea Crown Court following his release from jail earlier this year as his wife Susan made an application for the order to be lifted.

The court heard that the couple had been together for eight years, and married for 10 months, when the incident took place on July 9, 2016. Opposing the application for the Crown, Craig Jones read a victim impact statement from Mrs Meredith which had been taken following the incident.

In it, she said she saw her husband’s eyes “black with rage” as he held a knife against her, and that she felt like she was “living a nightmare”, had been prescribed medication, and added “I hate him for what he has put me through”.

John Allchurch, representing Susan Meredith, said: “It is her application to remove the order. He has not met her [since it was imposed] and he supports the application.”

Giving evidence, Susan Meredith told the court: “That was then, and this is now. I am over it now and I am not on any medication. It was a just a one-off, and I realised afterwards it was not Chris. I know in my heart of hearts he would not have done that.

“I just know 100% it is not going to happen again. After it happened I realised a couple of months later it was not Chris. It was a totally different person under the influence of drink and drugs. I am not under any pressure [to make the application]. I love him.”

Christopher Meredith, who had served in the Royal Artillery, also gave evidence to the court.

He said: “It was a terrible incident. I had been suffering from depression. I used alcohol and drugs to suppress my depression which actually exacerbated the problem. I love my wife and I miss her dearly.” He said since his release from Swansea prison he had repeatedly given negative drug tests and was being supported by charity Care After Combat, which supports veterans with alcohol and substance misuse problems.

Judge Peter Heywood said: “This was a very unpleasant incident. The defendant returned home having been drinking and socialising, and had taken controlled drugs and was heavily intoxicated.

“He returned home and it seems there was a dispute about cats having not been fed.

“He made threats saying someone was going to die today and Susan Meredith would be first. He said he was going to kill his sister and his mother, and then ‘I will be happy as death does not bother me.’

“He bound her with tape and, armed with a knife, held it to her throat, and she was fearful for her life. There is no dispute the episode was very much out of character. The doctor’s letter [to the court] shows there have been issues of depression, mental health and self harm.

“I have considered the application with great care and a degree of sympathy. It is clear they both love each other and want to be together, but I have wider concerns there could be a repetition of this sort of offending.”

Declining to lift the order, he said the court could be invited to reconsider the application once Christopher Meredith’s prison licence had expired, but recused himself from hearing any future application, so it could be looked at afresh by another judge.