Lee Hevingham, 41, from Longsight, Manchester, has been jailed for three years and six months after he admitted breaching a restraining order, two counts of criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The sentence was handed down at Manchester Crown Court after Hevingham attacked his former partner Charlotte Bridgeman, smashing a mobile phone into her forehead and repeatedly punching her face.
Attack after pub meeting
The pair met at a Longsight pub on November 15 last year, but the reunion ended in violence. Ms Bridgeman left the pub at 9.30pm following a heated argument in which Hevingham called her a "s***," said prosecutor Thomas Sherrington. Hevingham then punched the windscreen of her car, causing it to smash, before pursuing her and slapping her in the head.
Ms Bridgeman called her daughter and sister, but Hevingham grabbed her phone and "smashed it" into her forehead, causing it to bleed. He went on to punch her in the face and body, leaving her with severe bruises. Ms Bridgeman reported that she lost consciousness after he allegedly put his hands around her neck.
Victim's impact statement
In a victim personal statement read out in court, Ms Bridgeman said: "I'm scared Lee is going to kill me. He's ruined my life. I get to the stage where I'm free of him and he comes back and I fall back into my shell." She described the attack as having a "devastating and life-long impact on me and my children," adding that leaving him was "not as simple as people think."
Ms Bridgeman said she believed she was "going to die" and the attack had "changed my life forever." She said: "The terror I felt in this moment has never left me. I believed they were the last moments of my life." She added that she suffers from nightmares, flashbacks and has been diagnosed with complex PTSD, and that her ability to trust others has been "destroyed."
Criminal history and sentencing
The court heard Hevingham had 31 sets of previous convictions for 63 crimes, including ten acts of vandalism, nine of battery and four breaches of protective orders. He was handed a 15-month prison sentence for an assault in 2023. Judge Recorder Mark Rhind KC said Hevingham's record indicated "14 years of issues with domestic violence by you upon partners and family."
The judge told Hevingham: "It's completely clear to me that you cannot control your temper and you cannot hold your drink." He added that the fact Ms Bridgeman appeared to have wanted to meet him was "no mitigation what-so-ever" and that the responsibility to avoid contact forbidden by the restraining order "is on you and not on her."
