A Birmingham man was captured on CCTV dragging his girlfriend across the ground by her hair and then grabbing her throat, a court has heard.
Incident outside Swan Pub
The violent incident occurred on October 17 outside the Swan Pub, where Joseph Douglas's former partner was seen clinging to a lamppost to prevent him from dragging her. The 38-year-old, of Boleyn Road, Rubery, also 'squared up' to the pub owner who intervened and called the police.
Douglas, who said he "hangs his head in shame" over the attack, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and common assault. He was handed a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Birmingham Magistrates' Court this week.
Prosecution details
Prosecutor Rosalind Butler told the court: "Police became involved because they received a call on October 17 from a Mr Wood. He could see a man dragging a woman by her hair and her neck." When officers arrived, they found the victim with a reddened neck, a bump on her forehead, and a swollen eye. "The defendant had put his hands around her throat. She didn't want to disclose any further information. She became visibly upset when speaking about it."
CCTV from the Swan Pub corroborated the witness account. Ms Butler added: "It showed the defendant dragging the female victim by the hair and she was holding onto a lamppost to stop him dragging her. The injured party remained lying on the floor. The defendant picked her up and dragged her across the floor by her hair before letting go of her."
Confrontation with witness
The footage also showed Douglas confronting the pub owner. "You can see on the CCTV he grabbed hold of her throat, at that point he can be seen to square up to one of the members of the public who contacted the police, Mr Wood. He squared up to him and that put him in fear of violence. The male didn't say anything, he carried on pushing and shoving the female and put his hands around her neck."
Defence and sentencing
Mitigating, Ms Bailey said: "When I spoke to him he said 'I want to plead guilty', he says 'I do hang my head in shame.' He accepts his actions were unreasonable. He says, 'I'm not justifying my actions, but there was a lot going on in our lives at that time.' He is getting help from Change Grow Live. The alcohol got the better of him on that day. He is currently unemployed and just trying to focus on getting himself on the right road. He has kept out of trouble for several years."
Douglas has previous convictions dating back to 2014 but has since stayed out of trouble. As well as the suspended sentence, he must carry out 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay £150 compensation and a £154 victim surcharge. A concurrent sentence of 14 days in prison was made for the common assault on Mr Wood.
