Chesterfield man punched and strangled partner in "prolonged" attack

Liam Carter, 35, “pinned” the scared woman down and strangled her after delivering a punch during the attack in September last year.

Derby Crown Court heard Carter’s partner had been out shopping and had been drinking when the attack unfolded. Prosecutor Ashleigh Heyworth described how the pair were watching Emmerdale Farm when a row began.

She said: “Between the end of the soap opera and the early hours of the next morning he punched her and pinned her down and took her by the throat and strangled her. There were bites to her hand and nose and he kicked her to the back and this was punctuated by verbal abuse.”

After attending Chesterfield Royal Hospital the complainant was found to have suffered a lump to the back of her head, bruising to her face, forehead and upper check, puncture marks to her neck and bites to her upper arm and left side of her back.

In a victim impact statement read out to court the victim described how she had been in a relationship with Carter since the summer of 2020 and had to “walk on eggshells” around him.

Carter had caused “problems” where she lived, said the complainant, and she had “no-one to turn to” for help, while her daughter had been sent away to live with family.

The court heard Carter had 12 convictions for 27 offences including battery and assaulting an emergency worker.

Judge Jonathan Bennett told Carter: “This was a prolonged and sustained assault - it was an incident that went on for a long period of time and there was an element of strangulation.”

The judge observed that Carter’s victim was vulnerable and had been attacked in her own home. He added that Carter had initially denied the charges, waiting until the day of a trial to plead guilty. Judge Bennett said: “You put her through the anxiety of waiting to give evidence – "If you had pleaded guilty it would have made a huge difference.”

Carter, of Marlow Court, Derby Road, Wingerworth, admitted intentional strangulation and assault with actual bodily harm. He was jailed for 32 months and handed a two-year restraining order,