MAN JAILED FOR VIOLENT ATTACKS ON PARTNER AFTER VALENTINE’S DAY
A man subjected his partner to a campaign of controlling and violent behaviour during their relationship, a court has heard.Alexander Shannon would assault his girlfriend over issues such as ordering the wrong food and making too much noise while making coffee.
Swansea Crown Court heard the defendant had a history of domestic-related offending, and sending him to prison a judge described him as a "spiteful, cruel and relentless individual when it comes to bullying women".
The judge added that the 37-year-old was the kind of man "who women would be wise to guard against getting too close to".
Caitlin Brazel, prosecuting, told the court that Shannon and the complainant began a relationship in the summer of 2022 but that it was characterised by the defendant's controlling and coercive behaviour.
She said Shannon would often subject the woman to physical assaults including slaps, pushes and pulling hair, would send her threatening messages, and would often damage or break her personal possessions.
The barrister gave details of three specific incidents, the first of which happened on Valentine's Day last year when Shannon returned to the couple's home in an "intoxicated and aggressive" state after a day of drinking.
The prosecutor said the defendant immediately assaulted his partner by grabbing her by the hair and repeatedly punching her to the head before putting both hands around her throat and choking her to the point she could not breathe.
The victim managed to get free and rushed outside while Shannon started "smashing up" her property.
The court heard that a neighbour heard the disturbance and went outside to find the complainant in the street "gasping" for air.
The barrister said the second incident happened on May 26 when Shannon began arguing with the woman because she had ordered the wrong food.
The argument then turned physical with Shannon slapping her before grabbing her by the hair and pulling some of her hair out.
The third incident before the court happened on December 11 after the woman returned home from work and made the pair coffee.
Shannon accused the woman of being too noisy and of waking him up, and then began throwing cups and other items around.
The woman told him to leave her house and he responded by punching her to the face and then "storming out".
The court heard that it was after this incident that Shannon's behaviour was reported to the police.
The defendant was arrested on December 15 and denied all the allegations, saying his partner was the aggressor.
In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the complainant said Shannon's behaviour had impacted her mental well-being and her feelings of safety, and had left her struggling to concentrate at work.
She described being strangled as a "very frightening" experience.
Alexander Shannon, of High Street, Gorseinon, had previously pleaded guilty on the first day of trial to engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, strangulation, and destroying property when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has seven previous convictions for eight offences including two batteries on previous partners, destroying property - another domestic-related incident which saw him smashing up his victim's house and pouring bleach over her clothes - and harassment.
Andrew Evans, for Shannon, said the defendant had experienced adverse childhood experiences which he would ventilate in open court but added: "Having witnessed what he witnessed as a child, there is no surprise that in some way he replicates what he saw in his adult life".
He said the defendant was due to start a course of cognitive behavioural therapy - something he said his client had been on the waiting list for for 10 years - and that a better way forward would be to allow probation staff to work with him and to give him the "mechanisms" to deal with conflict in relationships which he currently lacked, rather than sending the defendant into custody.
Judge Geraint Walters said it was clear from everything he had read about the defendant that he was a "spiteful, cruel and relentless individual when it comes to bullying women" and said he doubted that Shannon had ever enjoyed a "non-abusive domestic relationship".
He told the defendant he was "addicted to using violence against vulnerable women" adding: "You are the kind of man who women would be wise to guard against getting too close to".
The judge said the pre-sentence report made "depressing reading" and noted Shannon had been given a range of non-custodial sentences and court orders for his past offending but had "breached almost every single one of them".
With a 10% discount for his guilty pleas, Shannon was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
