Man told partner to pretend she'd fallen off scaffolding after he attacked her

A controlling man threw his partner into a log basket - but told her to pretend she had fallen off scaffolding to explain her injuries. Mark Marsh assaulted the woman three times, including by holding his hand over her mouth.

On one occasion a neighbour heard her screaming through an open window and rang police. Marsh, 47, admitted using coercive and controlling behaviour. A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court today said women would be better served if he were rehabilitated.

She gave the defendant, of Llanegrin Street, Abergynolwyn, Tywyn, Gwynedd, a 24-month sentence suspended for two years. Prosecutor Emmalyne Downing said Marsh and his partner are both roofers and met through work. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here

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They started a relationship for about a year. But she wanted her space and independence and realised he was more intense and the relationship deteriorated.

There were three assaults at her home, the court heard. In April last year Marsh threw her into a log basket, and she sustained a cut mouth. He told her to tell people she had fallen off scaffolding.

In the May he put his knee on her chest and she feared for her life. She also suffered bruising to her right eye but told people she had been hit by her surfboard.

Then in June last year Marsh looked through her phone and called her "hooker", "slag" and "c***". She was upset and tried to leave. But he grabbed her wrist and put his hand over her mouth, the court heard.

Marsh slapped her face and threw her to the floor. He put his weight on top of her and his hand over her mouth again. He noticed a window was open and closed it but a neighbour had already heard her screams for help.

She called police and Marsh was arrested. In a victim statement she said she felt "desolate" in the relationship.

Marsh told her not to wave at people so much, accused her of having affairs and said she was only successful at work because men wanted to have sexual relations with her which undermined her confidence. After she ended the relationship, she said Marsh told her he would be "meaner than it was possible to be and she believed him".

She feels "bereaved that she has lost the person she was". But she felt sorry for her assailant who had lost his father to suicide. Richard Edwards, defending, said he had felt at the victim's "beck and call".

Both drank to excess but he accepts his acts were "totally down to him". They were not suited to a long-term relationship.

He said: "His determination to make it a success ultimately doomed it to failure." The judge Her Honour Nicola Saffman told Marsh that people - especially women with whom he is in a relationship - would be better served if he were rehabilitated.

Suspending the jail term, she said he must do ten days of rehabilitation activity and 35 sessions of an accredited programme. He must also do 200 hours of unpaid work, wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 120 days and pay £1,200 towards costs.

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