A drunken row over who paid the bill on a night out ended in terrifying violence
A man held a knife to his partner's head and threatened to kill her following a drunken row over who had paid the bill on a night out, a court heard.
Glenn O'Connell and his partner had enjoyed a night out with friends in February this year, Lancs Live reports. But when the pair returned home, a drunken row escalated and he pinned her to the sofa.
He then squeezed her neck so hard she struggled to breathe before taking out a knife and holding it to her forehead, Preston Crown Court heard.
The following month, the 59-year-old dad-of-two pushed his partner down in the stairs in another terrifying incident. The woman, who had been in an 18-month relationship with him, said: "If I hadn't left him I would have ended up dead."
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She said she had been a vibrant woman with a large group of friends but since her relationship with O'Connell her confidence is at rock bottom. The court was told how the first attack happened on February 9 this year.
The couple had argued over who had paid the bill on a night before O'Connell's violence escalated. The woman suffered a black eye and a cut to her forehead in the attack.
She said: "He said he was going to kill me and I believed him." She did not report the attack but on March 1 he attacked her again, after a night out with his teenage daughters.
O'Connell threatened to hurt the woman's dog, and when she ran upstairs after her pet, he pushed her down the stairs. The woman fell down five stairs, hitting her head as she fell.
She then stumbled and fell down another five stairs, landing on the floor. O'Connell stepped over his partner and spoke to his daughter, suggesting she left the house and went home.
The woman booked herself into a hotel, suffering pain to her shoulder. The following day, she saw a nurse - fearing it was fractured, but her injuries were confirmed to be muscular and bruising.
O'Connell, who runs a construction business, spent five months on remand following the second attack on his partner. He nodded his head in the dock as Recorder David Temkin KC said: "This was an extremely serious attack that must have terrified her".
The court was told how O'Connell has a number of previous convictions for violence, including GBH for a road rage incident in which he headbutted his victim, who needed hospital treatment, and a common assault on a schoolgirl he believed was bullying his daughter. "There is a clear pattern of violent offending in your past", Recorder Temkin KC said.
"I note you have never been to custody before." He said the offences against his partner were aggravated by the fact they were committed in the context of a romantic relationship which 'violates the trust and security that normally exists'.
However he accepted the defendant has a strong work history and read letters from his daughters who said they needed their dad to be a role model. O'Connell also suffered ill health while on remand.
"Your shock at the contents of your partner's victim personal statement also speak of a chance of being rehabilitated", he added. The judge handed him to a 20-month suspended sentence.
O'Connell was ordered to address his issues with the Probation Service and carry out 25 days of rehabilitation activities, a 26 day Building Choices program and 100 hours of unpaid work. He also made a restraining order banning the defendant from contacting his victim by any means.