MAN JAILED FOR STRANGLING WIFE UNCONSCIOUS
A man received a two-year prison sentence after he restrained his wife by strangulation during a dispute at a caravan site in Powys.Steven Hennessey, aged 58, assaulted his now-ex-partner at Trederwen Caravan Park near Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain, causing her to lose consciousness and believing she was on the verge of death.
According to Mold Crown Court, the assault took place on April 11 following a period of drinking.
Prosecutor Ryan Rothwell explained that the escalation began when Hennessey returned to the couple’s caravan around 7:30 pm and immediately reached for another beer, which led to an argument.
The row quickly escalated.
During the confrontation, a drink was thrown and a plate hurled at the wall before the defendant shouted: “This is your fault.
You’re disrespecting the caravan.” He then struck his wife in the face, causing her to fall and hit her head, strangled her until she lost consciousness.
When she came round, he said: “I thought I killed you.
I’ll never hit you again.” Despite this, he later became angry in a separate incident and threatened to burn down the home.
Police later found the victim “crying, frightened and panicking” with visible injuries to her face and pain to her head and neck.
In a victim impact statement, the court heard she was left “extremely frightened and shaken” and believed she might die.
She still feels unsafe, carries out safety checks at home and has suffered anxiety and nightmares.
Hennessey, who has three previous convictions for four offences, denied strangling his wife in police interview, claiming he had only pushed her.
But the defendant, who has been in prison on remand but previously gave his address as the caravan park, later pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation.
Defending, Andrew Jebb said his client had not been in trouble for nearly 40 years and described the incident as something he would “regret for the rest of his life”.
He said his client intended to abstain from alcohol and had spent two months in custody at HMP Berwyn ahead of sentencing.
But Judge Timothy Petts said the attack was “very dangerous” and could easily have had far more serious consequences.
He told the defendant: “You knocked your wife to the ground and kept her down by kneeling on her and using her own clothes to strangle her until she passed out.
You thought you had killed her.
It was a very dangerous thing to do.
“It was a sustained incident.
Very understandably she was extremely frightened and now feels unsafe after the threats you made.” The judge described the offence as a violation of trust and security.
While acknowledging his age and lack of recent offending, the judge said the seriousness of the crime meant only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.
Hennessey was jailed for two years and handed a 10-year restraining order.
