A domestic abuser was ‘supported by his victim’ despite putting his hands around her neck.
27-year-old Ryan Perkins, of Union Street, pleaded guilty to assault by beating when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court today (Thursday).
Prosecutor Keith Ballinger said Wiltshire Police received a call from a woman reporting that the defendant had attacked her during a bout of violence on 6 August last year.
She’d recorded the incident on her mobile phone; the footage showed Perkins shouting abuse in her face whilst grabbing her around the neck for a few seconds.
When officers viewed the footage of the assault, they arrested the defendant – but his victim, who he was in a relationship with, did not provide a statement or support the prosecution.
In an interview in custody, Perkins accepted he’d committed the assault but claimed the woman had goaded him into it. He said it was a “moment of anger”.
The court heard that this was not the first domestic-related offence he’d committed – he was handed a community order for breaching a non-molestation order in relation to a different woman in 2017.
Gordon Hotson, defending, said the victim in the case does not support the prosecution and wishes to restart their relationship. He said the “video is short and the incident is even shorter”.
He added: “Blink and you miss it”, describing the assault as “fleeting”.
Mr Hotson told of how the short attack was “as a result of sheer frustration on his part”, saying that Perkins “momentarily took hold of her and let go immediately”.
The defendant was working in the motor trade but has changed his career path – he’s due to start a new job working as a chef in the near future. He’s currently on Universal Credit.
Mr Hotson said he’d been engaging with LIFT Pyscology to address his angry issues and was undergoing assessments for adult ADHD.
“Well… any assault on a partner in her own home is a serious abuse of trust”, the lead magistrate said.
Adding: “Thankfully there were no injuries, but it was an unpleasant incident that could have escalated.”
The bench fined Perkins £120 and told him to pay a surcharge of £48 and £85 costs.
Following the hearing, the victim – who was watching from the public gallery – hugged Perkins in the court lobby and the pair walked off into Swindon town centre hand-in-hand.
