Kirkby man’s partner ‘thought she was about to die’ during violent attack

A Kirkby man whose partner thought she was about to die when he tried to strangle her during a violent attack has been spared an immediate prison sentence.
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Nicolas Stonham had been to the Duke of Wellington pub with the woman on October 1 last year, when 'it was clear things weren't 100 per cent’, said prosecutor Annelli Pritchard.

He returned home early and pretended to be asleep on the sofa, but when she sat down beside him, he became enraged and started screaming and shouting.

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"He leaned over me and hit me on the left cheek," she said in a statement read to court, adding that she lost count of the number of blows he inflicted.

Nottingham Magistrates Court.Nottingham Magistrates Court.
Nottingham Magistrates Court.

Stonham, aged 36, snatched her mobile phone, bit it, and tried to snap it half by the fireplace. When she asked why he was doing this, he 'just kept screaming' and said he was leaving her for someone else.

He slapped his partner on the face, then grabbed her around the neck with both hands.

"I couldn't breathe," she said in the statement. "I thought this was it. I thought he was going to kill me."

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She was losing consciousness when Stonham stopped his attack. She fled the house and ran to her sister's home. Stonham followed 'apologising and pleading with her,' but 'she had no intention of going back.’

"He has entered his guilty plea at the first opportunity and deserves full credit," Ms Pritchard told the court. "He was clearly very remorseful while in the rear of the police vehicle."

Lesley Pidcock, mitigating, said Stonham, of previous good character, had struggled with his mental health for a number of years, but ‘it is clear it’s deteriorated’.

She said the defendant, who lost his job in February last year, currently claims Universal Credit, and has been diagnosed with anxiety.

"Fortunately, the injuries weren’t serious,” she said.

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Stonham, now of no fixed address, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage, when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

He received a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was order to attend the building better relationships course and an alcohol treatment programme.

He was also ordered to pay a £128 surcharge and £85 court costs.