FAVERSHAM MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY FOUR YEARS FOR CONTROLLING AND BRUTAL ASSAULT ON GIRLFRIEND
A controlling abuser repeatedly punched his girlfriend as she lay in bed before choking her until she feared she would die during a two-hour ordeal.Aaron Nugent, from Faversham, carried out the attack after months of coercive and controlling behaviour in the early stages of their relationship.
During the middle-of-the-night assault, he punched, slapped and strangled her while telling her: “I will f***** murder you.” On Wednesday (February 11), he was sentenced to almost four years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to a catalogue of offences.
Prosecutor Katie Mustard explained that the 45-year-old had been in a relationship with the victim for four to five months before his true colours began to show.
The pair had moved in together quickly, but difficulties arose when he started abusing alcohol.
Ms Mustard said: “Within four to five months it became controlling and elements were, the Crown say, varied, including Nugent being jealous of male friends, accusing of her being unfaithful, verbal abuse, violence and threats of violence, isolating her, not allowing her to have friends, checking her phone, following her when she was out and turning up at places unannounced.” The first act of physical violence came on November 18, 2025, when Nugent got drunk and hit his partner in the face, leaving a red mark.
In a bid to protect his mother, the victim's son then punched him and told him to leave the house.
He went but later returned, and when his partner refused to let him in, he smashed a window with a brick and climbed through the hole.
When he apologised to the victim the next day, she accepted, “possibly due to fear of violence”, the prosecution said.
It was just days later, on November 26, that Nugent launched his most terrifying attack.
At about midnight, Nugent was drunk again and began questioning her about her movements and interactions.
Ms Mustard said: “Early in the morning, when they were both asleep, Nugent woke and punched and slapped the victim on both sides of her face.” He continued to rain punches down on her, before grabbing her by the neck “to the point she couldn’t breathe”.
“This caused clear bruising to her neck.
During the course of the episode, she thought she was going to die.
He continued to punch her in the face.
She was trying to get up, but he would push her back down.” The victim was finally able to flee when Nugent told her to get him some trousers, and she used it as an opportunity to run outside to a neighbour’s house and call police.
While his partner was gone, Nugent smashed her TV.
He was arrested shortly after and taken into custody.
But when released on bail with conditions not to contact his partner, he immediately went back to her house and banged on the door until she let him inside and took him back.
When the police attended the address for an unrelated matter the victim finally disclosed the full extent of Nugent’s abuse.
The court heard that she already suffered from anxiety and depression, and that this incident caused them to flare up, leaving her in a heightened state of anxiety.
The defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity at magistrates’ court, but not before giving a no-comment interview to the police and suggesting the allegations were “nonsense” upon being charged.
Defending him, his lawyer Eleanor Gwilym emphasised the early plea and said he had been working on himself in prison.
She also said that the most serious assault happened close to the anniversary of his mother’s death.
Ms Gwilym said that while she died in 2002, the yearly reminder was hard on his mental health.
Sentencing him to 46 months - four of which are the activation of the suspended prison time - Judge Simon James said: “You repeatedly punched her and grabbed her by the neck in what was clearly a very frightening incident.
“She was genuinely in fear for her life, and the resulting injuries demonstrate that you used considerable force.
“Eventually, she was able to flee and call the police.
“After smashing a TV in the property, you were arrested.
“You returned to her home almost immediately after being released on bail, despite conditions not to contact her.
There are a considerable number of aggravating factors; previous offending, a history of failure to comply with orders and the fact that all the offences were breaches of the suspended sentence imposed for using violence against a former partner.” Nugent will serve at least half the sentence for seven offences - actual bodily harm, threats to kill, intentional strangulation, two counts of criminal damage, coercive control, and assault by beating.
He is also subject to a 10-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim or attending her home, and will have to pay the victim surcharge of £85.
