MAN FOUND GUILTY OF ASSAULT AFTER WEDDING RECEPTION INCIDENT
A man has been convicted after being tried for two separate incidents of assault against his wife.The first occurred at a wedding reception, and the second took place near her home.
Adam Keith Markham was attending a friend's wedding when he engaged in an argument with his wife, who had previously discovered he was unfaithful to her with another woman.
During this altercation, he seized her by the arms, pushed her to the ground, and restrained her by the throat until another guest intervened and pulled him away.
Two months later, he appeared at a Taunton nightclub where she was with a female friend.
After confronting her there, he later visited her home, claiming he was taking their car.
He then pushed her, causing her to fall hard onto the floor and hit her face.
Markham, 32, of Lyngford Road, Taunton, denied charges of assaulting his partner at Hemyock on July 29, and also denied assaulting her at the nightclub on September 21.
Additionally, he disputed damaging a photo frame belonging to the victim.
Prosecutor Christine Hart explained that the couple was married but their relationship had deteriorated since May of the previous year, when the victim discovered Markham's affair.
On the evening of the incident, she went to a club in Taunton with a female friend.
Markham was present and followed her, during which he threw her drink against the wall, and later demanded the car keys at her address.
When she tried to gather her belongings, he pushed her, causing her to fall and hit her head.
During questioning, Markham denied assaulting his wife, claiming he used "reasonable force" because she was highly intoxicated, and stated that the damaged photo frame was already broken.
He was convicted of two counts of assault but the court rejected the charge of criminal damage.
Markham was fined £1,000 for each assault, ordered to pay £620 in costs, a £100 victim surcharge, and was issued a 12-month restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his wife or going to her address.
