A man who “terrorised” his partner in a series of incidents during their relationship has been jailed. Andrew Caswell, 44, of Caer Castell Place, Rumney, Cardiff, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court after pleading guilty to controlling or coercive behaviour and causing criminal damage. He was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm without intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Relationship turns abusive
The court heard that Caswell, described as a “large powerfully built bodybuilder in training for a competition” who had been taking steroids at the time, met his partner in Plymouth in 2023 while they were both on a night out, during his work on the railways in the area. They “hit it off” and became a couple, later getting engaged, and she moved to Cardiff to live with him.
Caswell “became paranoid” that she was socialising with other men at her workplace and began examining her phone, which led to a series of incidents over a number of years. In one incident, he caused hot coffee to go over her, causing her to “welp”. In another, he pushed her in the back down eight steps at the exit of a flat following an argument about her ex-partner. She tumbled down the staircase and later received hospital treatment for bruising, swelling and broken bones in her left hand and wrist.
Series of violent attacks
Another incident saw him slap her on the nose, resulting in an injury and damage to her glasses. He later sent a voice note apologising, describing himself as a “stick of dynamite”. In a further incident, he threw a vape that hit her in the eye, requiring surgery under general anaesthetic to repair the damage.
The court was told his campaign of abuse “went on and on and on”, based on his unsubstantiated paranoia that she was seeing other men. Other incidents included causing damage to her phone, slapping her to the jaw and throwing a vape at her, causing a “nasty cut” to her left temple. There was also an incident where he punched her to the face, causing a split lip, after believing she had been flirting with men during a work night out.
That attack caused her to fall to the floor, and he squished her face to the ground, applying pressure, before “unceremoniously throwing her out” in a “callous disregard for her welfare”. The court heard it led to her sleeping rough in a children’s playground in Rumney, sheltering under a metal sheet. She later contacted a women’s refuge, leading to police involvement.
Sentencing and impact
A victim personal statement detailed how the woman “suffered flashbacks” of what she had endured over four years, adding that she had “trusted” Caswell and that her “outlook on life had shifted”.
Judge Eugene Egan, who asked Caswell to “stop shaking his head” as he listened to his closing remarks, told him he had “bullied” the victim, “terrorised her” and “treated her as a punchbag” with “verbal and physical abuse on a significant scale”. He added: “By October 2025, you had literally battered her into submission and she had had enough. You were a menace to her, you proved that time and time again.”
Caswell was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment, to run consecutively with a further term of four years imprisonment, with an extended licence of another year. A restraining order was made preventing him from contacting his victim directly or indirectly for 15 years.
