Northampton ex-boyfriend spared jail for kicking partner on her stairs before squeezing her neck and threatening to kill her

Scott Robertshaw, of Glebeland Walk, Northampton, threw a violent fit on a night out in late 2018 when his partner at the time brought up her ex-boyfriend.

As the argument between the two grew, he responded by "pushing her" into a taxi back to her house before shoving her through her front door and carrying out a extended, vicious assault on her.

But, because Robertshaw later only pleaded guilty to choking her, the girlfriend in the case was forced to relive the ordeal and give evidence at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (February 3) so a judge could decide if the 56-year-old man was lying about the rest of the violence he dealt out on her.

She told the court: "He pushed me by my shoulders and I fell backwards onto my stairs. It also made me hit my head.

"He held onto the walls and repeatedly kicked me in the legs. It was very forceful and very painful.

"Then he lent on me with his full weight and squeezed my neck. He said 'I'm going to kill you, I hate you, I'm going to kill you'."

Over the course of the next our, Robertshaw verbally abused the woman, and when she tried to call the police in the garden he smashed her mobile phone and chased her up the house's drive before dragging her back indoors across the paving.

He continued to verbally abuse her throughout the night, until the next morning when the two separated. She was only able to ring the police and report what happened when she was by herself.

In court, Robertshaw tried to dismiss her account of being dragged as her lying, and chuckled as the allegations were read out to him in the dock.

But Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane ruled the 56-year-old was lying about the extent of his abuse, and only admitted choking her because a photograph in evidence showed bruises around her neck but no bruises from other injuries.

She told him in sentencing: "I don't accept there is genuine remorse and you have not fully accepted the level of violence against her.

"You were not prepared to accept the rest o the violence as there are no photographs of the injuries. Violence can cause significant amount of bruising and sometimes is less.

"But I'm sure she was telling the truth."

Robertshaw was handed a 18-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. he will also pay his victim £1,500 in compensation.