A 45-YEAR-OLD man who choked his former partner until she almost passed out in a “terrifying” grave and criminal assault has been sent to prison for four years and eight months.
Andrew Scott Page also attempted to gouge his victim’s eyes as he screamed in her face and grabbed her during the incident, which left the woman fearing for her life, the Royal Court heard.
Page was found guilty of grave and criminal assault in April following a trial in the Royal Court.
Crown Advocate Christina Hall, prosecuting, told the court yesterday that Page had taken alcohol and prescription medication before the attack.
He threw the woman to the ground, placed his hands around her neck and choked her until she was almost unconscious.
The court heard he also hit her head against the skirting board and wall.
Advocate Hall said the woman grabbed a knife from the drawer to protect herself, with Page responding by grabbing a kitchen knife and poking her in the stomach with it and inviting her to “plunge” her knife into him.
Following the assault, Page went to police headquarters and claimed the woman assaulted him, but police officers became suspicious after he gave “an inconsistent and confusing account”. He was then arrested.
The court heard during a separate incident, Page entered a jeweller’s shop together with a woman. He made derogatory comments to the salesman, who was described as “elderly”, and stole a bracelet valued at somewhere between £200 and £1,000. He pleaded guilty to larceny.
Advocate Heidi Heath, defending, pointed to long-standing mental health issues experienced by the defendant.
Delivering the sentence, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said the court had become “much more astute” to the seriousness of domestic violence, and that non-fatal strangulation was a serious aggravating factor.
He said: “It must have been, in any analysis, a horrific and terrifying experience for her.”
Page was given a four-and-a-half year jail sentence for the grave and criminal assault, as well as two months for larceny, to run consecutively.
He was also given a domestic abuse protection order and placed on the domestic abuse register.
Following sentencing, Detective Constable Verity Thomas, from the Public Protection Unit, said: “This was a deliberate and nasty assault carried out by Page. Behaviour like this should never be tolerated.
“We will do everything in our power to see offenders such as this face justice. Anyone else who has experienced similar abuse can come forward and speak to officers at any time.”
The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Gareth Hughes, Michael Entwistle, and Michael Berry.
