Bedlington taxi driver subjected wife to 'prolonged' attack because she forgot to lock front door
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/no ... t-21657221
Richard Jagger came back from working to find his wife had gone to bed drunk without locking up and he flew into a rage
Image: Newcastle Chronicle
A husband subjected his wife to a frightening attack after losing his temper because she forgot to lock the front door.
Taxi driver Richard Jagger returned from a night of working to find their home in Bedlington, Northumberland, unlocked and his partner, who had been drinking, was in bed.
A court heard he punched and slapped her, sat on her and armed himself with a wrench and smashed her phone during a "prolonged attack".
The 32-year-old, latterly of Disraeli Street, Blyth, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has now been given a suspended prison sentence.
Newcastle Crown Court heard they had been together for ten years and married for three and have two children together.
Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said: "The relationship has been up and down and she says there's a previous history of violence in the relationship."
On April 2, Jagger was working and his wife went to her sister's house to have a few drinks and their children were at their grandparents' home.
Mr Pallister said: "The complainant said she was drunk when she returned home some time after midnight and went to bed.
"The next thing she recalls is being woken by the defendant.
"She said he came upstairs shouting at her, having a go at her because she had left the front door unlocked. He was concerned someone could have come and stolen his motorbikes, which were in the kitchen.
"He was angry and kept getting in her face, going up and down stairs. He was drinking and each time he came up he was getting more and more angry.
"He hit her about the head with a closed fist."
The victim said he kept coming and going and at one point came upstairs holding a wrench.
Mr Pallister said: "She was scared.
"She had her mobile phone on her because she was trying to charge it up and call her family for help and when he saw the phone in her hand he wanted to know who she was ringing or texting.
"She said he then grabbed the phone from her hand and smashed it with the wrench. He put it on the floor and hit it several times with the wrench.
"He then got her on the floor and sat on top of her and she was struggling to move.
"He was still holding the wrench and she was screaming at him to get off and was scared.
She grabbed the hand he had the wrench in and he eventually let her up.
She was left with two large bumps on her head which were sore and also had bruises to her arms and friction burns to her elbows.
The woman said in a statement she didn't know how to explain the injuries to their children but said Jagger was a good dad.
She later withdrew her support for the prosecution and said she wanted to move on with her life and with Jagger.
Jagger, who has 13 previous convictions, including for violence but nothing since 2012, pleaded guilty to assault on the basis there were two punches and one slap. He also admitted criminal damage to the phone.
Judge Edward Bindloss said it was a "prolonged attack in her own home" and sentenced him to 12 months suspended for two years with 80 hours unpaid work.
Richard Bloomfield, defending said he was remorseful, has recently been diagnosed with autism and is still working as a taxi driver.