Knaresborough man jailed after subjecting partner to vicious Christmas Day 'punishment beating'

Alan Bell, 47, erupted in a fit of drunken rage at the woman’s home in Knaresborough where he punched her repeatedly after discovering she had recently tried drugs, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Daniel Ingram said the couple, who had drunk three bottles of wine together, got into an argument on Christmas Day last year after the named victim told Bell she had recently taken cocaine because she had been feeling down.

Bell, who worked for Huttons Butchers in Castlegate, Knaresborough, reacted with fury and accused her of cheating on him with another man.

The victim started talking to this man on the phone, whereupon Bell “began hitting her, punched her on the head and dragged her off the settee onto the floor”.

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He then threw a pair of Dr Martens boots at her, before dragging her outside to his van, telling her that if she wanted to see the man, he would drive her to his house.

“She begged him to stop (but) he dragged her outside to the van and threw her into the passenger seat,” said Mr Ingram.

“He drove to the male’s address and dragged her out of the van. He (then) punched her to the face and pushed her over.”

The victim was dragged along the ground towards the unnamed man’s house and then “dragged back (again)”.

She said she “smashed her face on the floor” after being pushed to the ground and was then kicked to the body, but Bell denied this.

“(Bell) then moved away, leaving her lying on the floor,” added Mr Ingram.

“She was helped by strangers who called police and she was taken to hospital.”

The victim, who had since separated from Bell, discharged herself from hospital before she could be seen by medical staff.

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When she returned home, she found her plants pots, Christmas presents and a glass candle had been smashed, and drink had been “poured all over (the presents)”.

It was Bell who had gone into her house and damaged the items as part of a “revenge” attack which lasted into the early hours of Boxing Day.

The victim also alleged that in the first attack at her home, Bell had kicked her to the body and hit her over the head with a TV remote control and her own shoes.

Bell denied these allegations but admitted punching her in the face “four or five times” before throwing her Dr Martens at her and dragging her into his van.

Mr Ingram said the victim suffered “nasty” bruising to her arms, face and body, a black eye, cut forehead and an ear injury after her earring was ripped out.

“She said she was sore all over and in pain for a long time afterwards,” he added.

“She said she felt the need to hide away from others as a result of the bruising and… that at the time she thought she might die.”

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Bell, of Castlegate, Knaresborough, was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property.

He admitted both offences on the basis that he didn’t kick the victim or hit her with the TV remote. He appeared for sentence Thursday after the prosecution accepted his plea.

Peter Minnikin, for Bell, said his client had led an otherwise “blameless” life.

He added that Bell, who divorced from his ex-wife in 2016, had never been violent in previous relationships.

A character reference from his employer at Huttons Butchers, where he earned a good living, described Bell as a “hard-working man”.

Mr Minnikin said Bell met the victim in 2019 but their relationship became “toxic” and they were both drinking heavily.

Judge Sean Morris branded the attacks a “disgraceful incident”.

He told Bell: “This was a prolonged incident of degradation. You dragged (the victim) out of the van and dragged her back again in the street and she’s ended up with all these injuries.

“While she is out without any shoes on, looking for help, you are ripping all (her) Christmas presents and spoiling them with drink.

“It was a cowardly offence and you were inflicting punishment which you are not allowed to do.”

Mr Morris said the violence was “just too prolonged and too serious” for anything other than an immediate jail sentence.

He added: “I know that this is going to have an effect both on your employer and your family, but these kinds of domestic assaults have to be deterred so that people know what happens if they subject their partners, wives, girlfriends, to prolonged, humiliating punishment beatings.”

Bell was jailed for 10 months and slapped with a five-year restraining order which bans him contacting the victim or going to her house in Knaresborough.