Portsmouth man jailed for attack he cannot remember

Andrew Bedford – listed as Lord Bedford on the court papers – was sentenced for assault at Fareham Magistrates’ Court.

The 51-year-old changed his plea to guilty on the day of the trial and said, as part of his defence, that he could not remember the attack.

Representing Bedford, Howard Barrington-Clark said he suffers from epilepsy which causes ‘transient amnesia’.

The court heard the defendant assaulted his wife Siobhan, with whom he has four children, while she was asleep in bed.

She suffered a cut above her eyebrow which has left a 1cm scar.

Mr Barrington-Clark told the court that although Bedford said he cannot remember the attack and Mrs Bedford says she was asleep when it happened, the defendant admits his wife did not have the cut when she went to bed.

He said: ‘Because she was asleep, Mrs Bedford cannot say who caused or how she got her injury.

‘The defendant says due to his epilepsy and transient amnesia, he cannot remember anything.

‘He pleaded guilty because he accepts what his wife said about her not having the injury when she went to bed. He must have caused it.’

The court heard Bedford, who runs his own business, and his wife had argued before the incident on February 21 this year after going out separately that evening. Both had been drinking.

Mr Barrington-Clark added: ‘He blames no-one but himself.

‘He has an alcohol problem bubbling below the surface for which he is getting help.’

Bedford, who was remanded in custody before the court hearing after breaching his bail conditions, was sentenced to 42 days in jail.

But chairman of the magistrates Malcolm Brown said he could be released on supervision as he had served more than half that sentence while remanded.

During sentencing, Mr Brown said factors such as alcohol, the breach of trust, the place and time of the offence and the domestic aspect made the incident warrant a jail term.

He said a previous assault charge for which Bedford had appeared in court in December added to the seriousness of the crime.

Mr Brown added: ‘We are going to sentence you to 42 days in prison.

‘However because you have served 24 days on remand, which is just over half that, you will be released immediately.

‘It is still a custodial sentence on your record and if you commit a crime again, it will be more serious.’

Bedford, of Spur Road, in Cosham, was also fined £480.