Carlisle man in drunken rage punched, strangled and shot his partner

Matthew Watson’s furious reaction included strangling her to the point when she passed out; force feeding her with pizza; repeatedly punching her; and shooting her in the face at close range with a BB gun.

The woman’s ordeal was outlined at Carlisle Crown Court as Watson, 35, of Balfour Road, was sentenced for three offences – causing criminal damage to the woman’s home, an actual bodily harm assault, and non-fatal strangulation.

Prosecutor Matthew Conway outlined the facts.

He described how police were alerted to a “domestic incident” at the woman’s Denton Holme property on April 6 and officers arrived to find her in a “highly emotional state.”

The barrister said: “Having let police into the property, she curled up in a foetal position behind the sofa. The defendant was locked in the bathroom, lying on the floor and highly intoxicated.”

Mr Conway said the defendant had earlier arrived at the woman’s home in a very drunk state and he became aggressive and abusive when his partner of four years told him she did not want him to stay overnight.

He reacted by trashing the living room, flipping over furniture before then turning his aggression on to the woman. Mr Conway said: “He grabbed her round the neck and began squeezing tightly.

“She momentarily lost consciousness and then took herself outside to be sick.” The violence continued as Watson repeatedly punched the woman to the head and then “degraded her” by force feeding her with pizza.

“Finally,” continued Mr Conway, “he returned with a BB gun and shot her at close range. One [shot] hit her in the face, one in the head; and one hit her hand as she held it up to defend herself.”

She was left with bruises and a blood blister as a result. When he was arrested, Watson told the police officers: “I flipped out – I fairly scared the missus, like,” though he later refused to reply to questions in his formal police interview.

The court heard that Watson, who admitted all three allegations that he faced, has a past record which includes offences of violence, including a serious assault that resulted in a long jail term.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, pointed out that there had been no witness statement from the victim and no victim impact statement. Nor was the woman supportive of a restraining order to prevent contact.

The barrister said Watson fully accepted the prosecution version of what happened.

“He acknowledges that he has a problem with alcohol – a significant problem with alcohol; and that, combined with depression, led to him offending on this occasion,” continued Miss Whittlestone. While in prison, Watson had worked to address his issues and taken a training course in digital skills.

Miss Whittlestone said the victim had written to Watson while he has in custody and said she wants the relationship to resume, though he felt this would “add fuel to the fire”.

“He wants to focus on getting himself free of his addiction to alcohol and addressing his mental health,” said the barrister, adding that Watson appreciated that he was guilty of “appalling offending.”

Judge Nicholas Barker said that despite the defendant being out of trouble for 13 years, his record showed his tendency towards “significant violence.” The judge noted his five year jail term for intentional wounding in 2010.

“When drunk you have a tendency towards aggression,” Judge Barker told Watson. “You grabbed her around the neck and squeezed her when you began to strangle her to the point where she lost consciousness – to the extent that she went outside and was sick when she regained consciousness.

“One only needs to consider the fear that is engendered in a victim when a man’s hands are around her throat. When is it going to stop? Is it going to stop? Am I going to survive? What is happening?

“That is why the courts take non-fatal strangulation so seriously. Within it, there is not only the physical pain and distress that is caused; there is also the psychological impact of the nature of strangulation; the fear it causes, and the control obtained by the person undertaking the strangulation.”

The judge noted also the other forms of violence – the punching and the shooting with the BB gun. “It really is a terrible catalogue of domestic violence,” he said. “You were out of control.”

Despite the able mitigation of Miss Whittleston, said the judge, the offences were so serious that only custody was appropriate. He jailed Watson for 18 months. As the case concluded, Watson said: “Thank you very much, Your Honour.”