HUDDERSFIELD MAN NARROWLY AVOIDS PRISON FOR VIOLENT ASSAULT ON GIRLFRIEND
A 32-year-old man narrowly avoided prison after dragging his girlfriend out of a house and attacking her with stamping and punching, leading to serious injuries.Nick Palfreeman met his partner in Huddersfield on May 5, despite being under bail restrictions that forbade him from seeing her.
The couple had been drinking earlier and then returned to his residence, as explained to Leeds Crown Court.
Prosecutor Robert Hamilton described their relationship of five years, during which they shared a child.
The woman stayed at Palfreeman's for seven hours, during which she noticed a change in his behavior and accused him of infidelity.
He then forcibly threw her outside and continued his assault, hitting her in the head and face, causing her to fall.
The assault escalated as he kicked her head and stamped on her, before dragging her into the foyer and persisting with the attack.
A bystander intervened, stopping the violence, and police were summoned.
During questioning, Palfreeman was seen to become distressed when shown images of the injuries he caused.
The woman was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, where she was found to have a 20cm wound on the left side of her head, red marks along her spine, and a bone fracture.
She reported feeling "traumatized" and indicated that the assault worsened her existing anxiety.
She recounted her frustration: "When the relationship was good, it was really good.
I kept asking him to seek help for his drinking, but he broke his promises." She had previously reported injuries by Palfreeman in 2021 and a broken wrist caused by him kicking her front door in 2022.
Expressing fear, she said: "I keep thinking he could have killed me...
I don't believe I will ever recover from this." Her defense counsel, Andrew Semple, stated that Palfreeman had no history of violent crimes.
"He was sentenced to 14 days previously and has spent four months in custody," Semple said.
"While detained, he engaged with programs addressing his alcohol and drug issues, which he admits he has." The court was informed that Palfreeman's victim had visited him four times during his incarceration, and he expressed a wish to leave this situation behind and move on.
He was reportedly concerned about her re-engaging with him.
The pre-sentence report suggested Palfreeman claimed the woman acknowledged her own infidelity.
Judge Penelope Belcher characterized the assault as "gratuitous, violent, and unnecessary, carried out in a jealous fury." She sentenced him to a 12-month prison term, suspended for two years, for the charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.
The conditions also include participation in 30 sessions of the Building Better Relationships program, along with additional anger management and substance misuse work.
Additionally, he is subject to a 120-day alcohol monitoring requirement and a five-year restraining order to prevent contact with the victim.
