HEXHAM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THUG WITH DISTORTED BELIEFS JAILED FOR 31 MONTHS
A woman’s holiday visit to a park near Hexham ended in a terrifying ordeal when she feared for her life during a brutal assault by her violent partner.The victim, who had been with Sam Tandy since childhood, described their relationship as "volatile" in the past, especially when alcohol was involved.
During a short break in January this year, Tandy’s distorted perceptions of control and entitlement led to a shocking outburst.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that he was in a hot tub drinking when he turned aggressive.
While the woman was cooking, she asked him to step back from the stove, and he reacted by raising his hand as if to strike her.
Tandy, aged 24, then retreated to the hot tub and was heard on a phone call saying, "I will get her in here and f****** drown her," while also using abusive language toward her.
He also recorded a video of the incident, which upset the woman, prompting her to ask him to sleep in the spare room.
Tandy began shouting and grabbing her, digging his nails into her skin.
Prosecutor Ian Windridge told the court that during the assault, Tandy bit her left cheek and lip, strangled her to the point she felt like vomiting, and kicked her.
He also smashed plates and threw food around the property.
As she tried to escape, he pulled her coat backward, took her phone and hid it.
She managed to remove her coat and ran to the bathroom, locking the door.
She could hear him tearing her coat and observed that his mouth was bleeding, with cracked teeth and feathers scattered on the floor.
Tandy shouted, "you're going to make me kill someone," and then punched himself in the head and face before making a stabbing gesture with scissors toward her.
The victim sustained scratches, bruises, and grazes.
In a statement, she expressed her fear, saying, "The incident has left me very scared and frightened of what Sam could, or was about to, do to me.
I genuinely feared for my life that night.
I’ve been with him since we were both 11, and this was the most frightened I’ve ever been.
There was no need for the violence.
It was just a verbal argument, and I didn’t deserve what happened." Following his arrest, Tandy was found to have protested and directed a racist slur at a detention officer.
Residing on Winterford Road in Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyme, Tandy had seven previous convictions and was serving a suspended sentence for grievous bodily harm at the time of the offence.
He pleaded guilty to charges of strangulation, assault causing actual bodily harm, two counts of criminal damage, and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.
Sentenced to 31 months in prison by Recorder Simon Goldberg, Tandy was described as harboring "a distorted belief about power, control and entitlement" in intimate relationships.
The judge noted that his disinhibition under the influence of alcohol would often manifest in reprehensible behaviour towards his partner, and that this was not an isolated incident.
Defence lawyer Liam O’Brien expressed remorse, stating that Tandy was deeply ashamed of his actions and acknowledged that excessive alcohol consumption played a major role.
He emphasized that all previous offences had been alcohol-related, and claimed Tandy had decided to change, highlighting his positive qualities as a caring uncle, trusted friend, and reliable employee.
