CAERPHILLY MAN ATTACKED PARTNER AND THREATENED TO TORCH CAR
A SHORT-TEMPERED boyfriend attacked his partner after going through her phone, before then bombarding her with calls and threatening to torch her car after she dumped him.Prosecutor Amelia Pike told Cardiff Crown Court that Macaulay Short and the victim had been in a relationship since September 2023 and had a young child together.
The couple were sat upstairs at around 11.30pm on December 17 last year when Short exploded over a screenshot he found as he went through her phone.
An argument erupted, during which Short called his partner several derogatory names.
He refused to give her back her phone, so she took his and went downstairs.
Short broke his partner’s fingernail as he attempted to grab his phone back.
Whilst downstairs, Short grabbed his partner by the throat and hair and hit her head against the sofa cushions.
He then got in her face and said: ‘I’ll kill you, you f***ing s***.
Look at you, you’re a dirty rat s***.’ The victim was left with reddening and scratches to her neck, Ms Pike said.
She contacted her mother, and moved out of the address.
On Christmas Eve, she received “a number of calls” from a withheld number.
She recognised Short’s voice and told him to stop calling.
However, she received a further 22 missed calls from the withheld number in a 15-minute period, Ms Pike said.
Two days later, Short showed up outside the victim’s new home.
She told him to leave, and her friend escorted him away.
The following day he messaged her: ‘I’m dying without you love.
I can’t take this’.
Short was arrested on December 28.
He was released on bail on the condition of not contacting his ex-partner.
However she continued to receive calls from a withheld number.
She answered a call on January 31, and Short said: ‘Watch what happens’ and ‘I’m going to light your car on fire’.
He was arrested again on February 9.
Short, of Ty Coch in Rhymney, pleaded guilty on the day of trial to common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threatening to destroy or damage property, and stalking.
The court heard the 28-year-old had four previous convictions for four offences, including a previous conviction for harassment of a previous partner.
He was also subject to a community order at the time of these offences, Ms Pike said.
“The defendant accepts a custodial sentence is inevitable,” said Megan Williams, in mitigation.
She said Short had left school at “an early age”, but had been engaging with education services whilst in prison with the goal of getting work upon his release.
Judge Shomon Khan sentenced Short to 18 months.
The victim was granted a three-year restraining order.
