South Yorkshire man’s “diabolical run of bad behaviour”
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Billy Wardle was shouting incomprehensibly when he grabbed the woman by her throat and squeezed so she struggled to breathe, Sheffield Crown Court heard on Thursday.
Prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari described how Wardle locked the woman in the bathroom after barging into her home in Goldthorpe, Barnsley, on the morning of December 9, last year.
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Hide AdHe hit her around eight times in the face and body, and told her he had a gun and was going to shoot her.
The woman fled from the house and tried to seek help in two nearby shops, but Wardle dragged her outside, the court heard.
When the woman's cousin came to rescue her, she saw Wardle banging his head against a wall and saying he would kill himself.
"She said she had never seen him so drunk," Ms Alistari said.
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Hide AdThe court heard their 13-year relationship had ended in July last year, but Wardle continued to visit his ex-partner's home.
She said she had been living in fear of him since their break-up and had lost weight through stress.
Richard Davies, mitigating, said Wardle expressed his remorse through his guilty plea, and had been in custody since his arrest.
Probation officers can see a way of working with him to prevent anything similar happening by focussing on his drug misuse, he said.
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Hide AdWardle, 34, of Langdale Close, Goldthorpe, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to affray on June 30, after initially denying other charges.
Recorder Taryn Turner described it as "an absolutely diabolical run of very bad behaviour" while he was “high on some narcotic” and very drunk. She told him: "You were seemingly unable to accept that your relationship had ended.”
She sentenced him to 12 months, suspended for two years, but because he has already served six months in prison he will be released today.
In addition, she ordered him to complete 30 rehabilitation days, a six-month drug rehabilitation course and 100 hours of unpaid work, as well as the building better relationships course. A restraining order was made until further notice.