2013: PRISONER WITH RECORD OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN JAILED
A PRISONER with a record of violence against women has been jailed by a judge who labelled the case one of the worst he had ever seen.Judge Patrick Thomas QC said the violence Paul Biddle had dealt out to his former partners had been "extreme, continuing and vile".
He jailed Biddle, aged 32, for 18 months at Worcester Crown Court and also made him subject to a five-year criminal anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO), banning him from being either physically or verbally abusive to any woman.
The judge said the unusual measure was necessary to enforce good behaviour.
"I have not seen a history of such violence and contempt for women, so plainly and clearly expressed, in the many years I have been involved in the criminal justice system," he said.
The court heard Biddle was recorded in 1,000 minutes of calls between October 29 and December 10, 2012, while he was in HMP Hewell in Tardebigge.
He called his girlfriend at the time and told her go and cut her throat, swore at her and made other abusive comments - though the calls also included them saying how much they loved each other, prosecutor Jason Pegg said.
Mr Pegg said the woman had visited him in prison and he had dug his nail into her hand, causing it to bleed.
He then asked the staff for a plaster, saying she had cut it on a can of drink.
Biddle pleaded guilty to putting her in fear of violence, for which he was given 18 months in prison, and to assault, for which he was given three months to run concurrently.
Julia Powell, defending, told the court Biddle was back in prison after being recalled on licence and due to be released in April next year.
She said he had previous convictions for being abusive towards other partners and his behaviour had been abhorrent.
He had now ended the relationship with the woman he threatened, she added, and said he had been angry following the death of his father and his belief that his partner was having an affair with his brother.
Judge Thomas told Biddle he found his behaviour towards women deeply disturbing.
"Women are entitled to protection from the way you have behaved towards them," he said.
"You seem not to understand that women are entitled to their own independence, to make their own decisions and to their own autonomy."
