POOLE MAN JAILED FOR ANIMALISTIC ATTACK IN WIMBORNE PUB
A MAN ‘acted like an animal’ when he bit, strangled and prevented a woman from fleeing during a persistent attack, a court heard.The victim told the court: “I will never forget the sheer panic I felt in this incident, and that my life could end at the hands of this man.” A passing driver rescued the woman after she fled The Minster Arms in Wimborne.
Geron Davis, 52 and of Sundew Road in Poole, was staying at the pub with his then partner from April 7, 2023, to April 9, 2023.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how an argument broke out over dinner and when the pair returned to their room, Davis pushed her against the door.
The woman made to leave but was persuaded to stay.
She was subjected to ‘persistent assaults’ throughout the night and when she tried to leave the defendant stopped her by grabbing her wrists, throat and pushing her onto the bed.
Davis also bit the woman on her back, and when she screamed for help, he put her in a headlock and told her to ‘shut up’.
The woman described his actions ‘as of that an animal’.
In the early hours of the morning, the victim fled the room and when the defendant put his arm around her, she bit him.
The driver of a passing vehicle, that rescued the woman, said she was “physically shaking and voice quivering”.
Prosecutor, Richard Tutt, said the woman was taken to hospital where she had bruising to her wrists, chest, neck and needed to wear a splint.
A later diagnosis also found the woman’s neck injuries to have caused permanent damage to a main vessel to her brain.
She now has an increased risk of strokes for the rest of her life and will need to be on constant medication.
Mr Tutt added how the defendant consistently victim blamed throughout his police interview, and tried to say the pair often bit each other ‘for fun’.
Mitigating, Hannah Tickle, said Davis is “extremely remorseful”, and his previous relationships show he can be a “kind and caring man”.
Recorder judge Hannah Willcocks KC, said: “[The victim] was absolutely terrified by your drunken actions and feared for her life.” She said Davis sought to minimise his actions and nothing persuaded her to suspend the sentence.
After pleading guilty to assault a person causing them actual bodily harm, Davis was jailed for two years and three months.
He was also handed a restraining order against the victim for five years.
