'Jealous' Bishop's Waltham man jailed after strangling ex-partner and beating her during violent rages

Karl Wood, 48, of Campion Drive, admitted intentionally strangling his former partner on July 3 and 11, and assault by beating on July 10.

Wood was jailed for 26 months at Winchester Crown Court and is among the first in the country to be sentenced for intentional strangulation. The new non-fatal strangulation offence – which carries a maximum of five years – only became law on June 7.

The court heard how before July 3, Wood had been released under investigation for an alleged assault on his partner.

But Wood turned up at the complainant’s Winchester home on July 3 before they both started drinking.

Her Honour judge Susan Evans KC said: ‘You became jealous and followed her down the garden from her home and strangled her. She says twice but I accept it was once. The police were called and you were arrested and released and bailed.’

Wood then returned to the female’s flat again on July 10 and demanded to see her. ‘She didn’t want to see you and you slapped her face inside her home,’ the judge said.

‘The next day you continued to message her and after drinking heavily you pinned her to the bed and strangled her and made threats to her. She managed to leave the flat and call police.’

No injuries were found to the woman’s neck but bruises were found to her arm from where she was pinned down.

The judge, speaking of the impact on the complainant, said: ‘She no longer feels safe in her home and is anxious and in fear and her mental health has declined.’

The woman, in a statement read out to court, said: ‘I’m frightened to leave my flat. I’m scared of him and am scared to say no to him.’

She admitted struggling to sleep after Wood threatened to get ‘someone else to hurt her’ and was ‘full of anxiety and fear’.

The female also revealed she had ‘paid for everything’ in their relationship and had been ‘left with no money’.

With no guidelines for strangulation judge Evans referred to assault occasioning actual bodily harm guidelines which includes to strangulation. She said it was ‘plain psychological harm had been caused’.

Wood had previous in 2014 for assaulting a previous partner in which he punched her to the head and grabbed her to the throat – which he was also convicted of doing two years later.

Wood, who had not committed an offence since 2016 until the latest matters, was deemed a ‘high risk’ of reoffending against his ex-partner.

‘Strangulation is a very serious and distressing form of assault. You have a lack of emotional control, jealousy, difficulties managing your temper and a propensity for using acts of serious violence to resolve conflicts,’ the judge added.

Wood, who admitted two counts of intentional strangulation and a single charge of assault by beating, was jailed for 26 months and handed an indefinite restraining order.

Wood’s barrister Emma Hayfield said he apologised for the offences and ‘regretted the way he behaved’ and was addressing his ‘trigger’ of abusing alcohol.

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