FOOTBALLER AND PLASTERER RHODRI CARTER GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSAULT
A plasterer and talented footballer from Station Road in Maesteg, Rhodri Carter, was sentenced after a violent assault on his former partner, Sophie Waters.The court heard that Carter rained punches on Waters and then grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen, threatening to slit her throat with them.
He also grabbed Waters around the neck, knocked her to the floor, and continued to assault her before sitting on top of her while threatening to kill her.
The incident occurred after the pair, who had an on-off relationship for about five years and had two sons together, bumped into each other on a night out and went to a friend's house party.
Waters managed to grab a coat hanger and struck Carter while he was on top of her.
Carter then left the property, but was later arrested at his home.
He denied the offence, claiming self-defense, but pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Waters required hospital treatment, with severe bruising and swelling around her face, but scans later showed no fractures.
Carter, 31, who had five previous convictions but none for domestic violence, was given a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, along with a five-year restraining order, a 21-day rehabilitation activity, a 16-week curfew, and ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge.
The court emphasized the severity of the assault, noting Waters was terrified and that he would have faced immediate imprisonment had he not pleaded guilty.
