A Melksham man has been jailed after threatening to have his girlfriend decapitated in a campaign of controlling and abusive behaviour.
28-year-old Joe Martin, of Lavender Close, was sentenced to nine months in prison at Salisbury Crown Court on Monday (17 August).
He had pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour and was also made subject to a restraining order for five years.
Between 7 and 18 February, Martin repeatedly threatened and attempted to control his girlfriend, a woman aged in her 20s.
His behaviour left his victim fearing that violence would be used against her.
On one occasion, Martin found the woman at a pub in Bath and attempted to remove her by grabbing her.
He then locked her in his car, threatened her and took away her phone to prevent her from calling for help.
Martin also threatened to pay someone to cut off the woman’s head and threatened to deliberately crash a car they were travelling in.
The victim reported the abuse to police and Martin was arrested, charged and remanded in custody.
A/PS Surgey, from Wiltshire Police’s Volume Crime Team, said: “Martin’s actions were absolutely awful and have caused significant stress and anxiety to the victim.
“I would like to commend her for her bravery and courage in reporting his behaviour to the police and seeing this through until conviction.
“I hope this sentence provides the victim with the time and space they need to process what happened and begin to heal.
“Targeting and reducing violence against women and girls is a Force priority and we will always act robustly to bring domestic abuse perpetrators before the courts.”
Due to time spent in prison on remand, he has since been released from custody.
