A woman has described how she feared for her life during a violent attack by her partner while on a short break at a holiday park near Hexham. Sam Tandy, 24, from Ashton-under-Lyne, was jailed for 31 months at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two counts of criminal damage.
The court heard that Tandy had been drinking in a hot tub when he became aggressive. When the victim asked him to move away from the stove, he raised his hand as if to hit her. He later returned to the hot tub and was heard saying on the phone: 'I will get her in here and f****** drown her.'
Prosecutor Ian Windridge said Tandy bit the woman's left cheek and lip and strangled her to the point she felt she was going to be sick. He also kicked her, smashed plates, threw food, and hid her phone. The woman ran to the bathroom and heard him ripping her coat. He shouted 'you're going to make me kill someone' and made a stabbing gesture with scissors.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: 'I genuinely feared for my life that night. I've been with him since we were both 11 and this is the most frightened I've been.'
Recorder Simon Goldberg said Tandy has a 'distorted belief about power, control and entitlement within intimate relationships' and that his behaviour was 'disgraceful'. Tandy, who was on a suspended sentence for grievous bodily harm at the time, also admitted racially aggravated threatening behaviour towards a police officer.
Defence lawyer Liam O'Brien said Tandy is 'deeply and genuinely ashamed' and that alcohol was a factor in his offending. Tandy has decided to stop drinking, O'Brien added.
