Steven Downing, 59, of Lyttleton Avenue, Halesowen, Birmingham, was said to have treated his wife in a 'controlling and cruel way'
A man who threatened to kill his wife after beating her with a broomstick and placing a pillow over her face has been jailed for three and a half years.
Steven Downing, 59, of Lyttleton Avenue, Halesowen, Birmingham, appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty at a trial last year.
Prosecutor Brett Williams said Downing and his wife Caroline had been together for 35 years.
The couple were holidaying in a caravan at Tywyn in Gwynedd last year when Downing attacked her with a broomstick, the court heard.
“He was taunting her with a broomstick and threatening to kill her in what was a terrifying ordeal,” said Mr Williams.
“She said he also smothered her two or three times with a pillow. She was struggling to breathe and going to pass out.
“He said if she was going to call the police he would fight and come back to kill her.”
Mr Williams said that, a month later, Downing attacked her again when he smashed a glass which injured her hand while they were having a barbecue at their home in nearby Llanegryn.
The prosecutor said that, during the barbecue, Downing made derogatory comments about his wife “wolfing” a burger.
The court heard that Downing said: “I really want to glass you. I really want to hurt you. I want to kill you.”
After she was injured by the glass, he said: “Why are you putting a sock around your hand?”
Mr Williams said that Downing later lost his temper, he was red in the face and his eyes were bulging.
The court heard he grabbed the broomstick, saying: “Look at this. You must remember this. It’s your friend.”
Mr Williams said Downing then started battering his wife with it, injuring her arms, face and legs.
“She thought she might die,” he said.
“He was hitting her so hard the broomstick broke.”
Later, in the bedroom, Downing picked up a pillow and smothered his wife’s face, saying: “This is when you die.”
Mr Williams said: “She put her hands to try to stop him. She struggled to breathe and started to panic.”
He said they fell on the floor with Downing on top.
Downing was saying: “You are going to die. Do you want to die?”
Mr Williams said: “She managed to persuade him to get off her, but he said: ‘Don’t sleep, don’t close your eyes; I am going to kill you.’”
She finally escaped through the back door and banged on the neighbours’ door.
Photographs showed cylindrical-shaped bruises on her thigh.
Mr Williams said Downing told police he had a broomstick in his hand and had behaved like that because he’d drunk too much. He admitted he had hit his wife with a broomstick previously.
Mr Williams said Mrs Downing was “terrified he would come after and kill her” after leaving prison.
Defence barrister Dafydd Roberts said Downing had been cautioned by police for assaulting his wife in 2006.
Her Honour Judge Gaynor Lloyd said Downing had pleaded guilty only after his wife had been through the ordeal of giving evidence before a jury.
She said he had treated her in a “controlling and cruel way”.
The judge said: “One of the despairing factors is the defendant’s refusal to accept culpability and responsibility.
“He is looking to blame everyone else, including his wife.
“This was a domestic abuse, a repeated beating of your wife in her own home. Clearly there is no remorse shown by you.”
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/man-who-beat-wife-broomstick-12480556
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