Mansfield man jailed for ‘frenzied attack’ on partner the day they got back together

Scott O'Hare was drinking heavily on January 12, 2020, and became angry when his partner's sister phoned with concerns about their reconciliation, prosecutor Thomas Welshman said.

He told her: "You're stupid for getting back with me? It's the other way around."

O'Hare slapped his partner's face and punched her around six times. When she fell to the floor and tried to defend herself, he grabbed her throat and began throttling her.

She later described him as "a man possessed" as he threatened to kill her, tore the kitchen door from its hinges and hurled it at her back.

O'Hare drove away from the house, but returned ten minutes later, still angry, Mr Welshman said. He was restrained by his partner's brother until police arrived.

A breath test revealed he had 98 mcgs of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

In a prepared statement that he later gave to police he claimed that he had been defending himself.

The court heard the woman, who had endured an “abusive, on-off relationship at O'Hare's hands for five years,” sustained multiple facial injuries, two black eyes, cuts, scrapes and swelling. The effect on her mental health was “profound.”

Samuel Lowne, mitigating, said O'Hare had no previous convictions except a caution for damaging the same woman's property.

He said O'Hare, who recently received the all-clear for cancer, had been looking after his current partner who is poorly, and immediate custody would have a negative impact on her.

O'Hare, 48, of Westfield Lane, Mansfield, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on the day of his trial.

Judge Mark Watson told him: "You had the gall to blame her saying you did nothing more than defend yourself. This was a frenzied attack on a woman in her own home.”

O'Hare wept as he was sentenced to 27 months on Thursday. He was banned from driving for two years from his release.

A ten year restraining order, banning him from contacting the woman and visiting the street she lives on in Mansfield Woodhouse, was also made.

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