A YOUNG west Cumbrian man subjected his partner to months of “outrageous” mistreatment, which included repeated violence and "nasty" verbal abuse.

A Carlisle Crown Court judge aimed that stinging criticism at 19-year-old Flimby man Sol Wedgewood-Patterson, describing his attitude towards his ex-partner as disturbing and alarming.

The court heard a detailed account of the offences, committed over a period of around 15 months. They included controlling and coercive behaviour, an actual bodily harm assault, and a wounding offence against.

Both assaults were against his former long-suffering girlfriend. Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined the facts.

But the first offences - both admitted by the defendant - were two criminal damage crimes, committed on July 30, 2022, when the defendant smashed a window at the victim's home. She had contacted the police late on July 30 to report that the defendant, her former boyfriend, had also assaulted her.

This was the wounding offence.

The woman said she and the defendant had been in a Workington pub and Wedgewood-Patterson became jealous after seeing her talking to a boy she knew.

“They left the first pub and went to a second one  – and there the defendant remained angry and, in the road, he  was punching and kicking the yellow traffic sign on a traffic island in the middle of the road," said the prosecutor.

“They were arguing, and he kept saying “Why are you with boys?” He then crossed the road to the first house next to a Kwik Fit garage and punched a window, smashing it and injuring his hand.”

After they had returned to her his home in Flimby at 2am, he remained angry. When she took a call from a friend, he smashed her phone.

He pushed her on to the bed, punching her repeatedly in the left side of her face and the back of her head, making her see stars.

“The defendant’s mother came into the room to see what was going on but he told her to leave, and she did," continued Mr Evans. "After the attack [the victim] went and asked [the mother] to call her a taxi or call the police but she refused.

“She stated that she was not having the police coming to her house.” The victim slept in the living room until the next morning, when she took a taxi. The woman’s injuries included facial bruising, swelling and a nasal fracture.

Wedgewood-Patterson was “jealous and very controlling," said the woman.

Describing this, Mr Evans said: “He was abusive and controlling throughout their relationship and that there were several assaults.

“They had been in an on and off relationship for about three years when they were aged approximately 14 to 17 years old. One assault was previously reported to the police, but [the victim] was not willing to provide any evidence at that time.

“She described this as an assault after a night out in a pub back at her step-father’s house when the defendant became angry and punched her in the face and pushed her off the bed.”

In August 2020, at Harrington, she saw the defendant with a group of his friends, all of them drunk. She accused him of cheating on her.

"The defendant then grabbed her top and threw her to the ground, causing cuts and grazes to [her] elbows, knees and hips," said Mr Evans. "These became infected and took a long time to heal. She could hardly walk due to the pain." 

In yet another assault in June 2020, the defendant - drunk and high on cannabis -  tried to force her to drink Budweiser lager, and kicked her and hit her with his T-shirt after taking it off.

“He was regularly verbally abusive to her if he was angry, but if he was really angry, he would put his hands on her. He would do things like pinning her to the bed by her arms, throwing her around by her hair and pushing her around.

"One time he held her down and spat in her face.”

On another occasion, he messaged her while she was at a party, having threatened to hurt her if decided to go. 

"He was saying things like he hoped her grandmother died and that he was going to tie her to a lamppost, strip her naked and take photos to embarrass her with," said the prosecutor.

Wedgewood-Patterson also installed a tracking app on the woman’s phone and if she left the house, he bombarded her with calls and messages, demanding to know where she was and who she was with.

Sean Harkin, defending, said Wedgewood-Patterson, of Grange Avenue, Flimby, was “ill-equipped” to deal with an adult relationship.

He also had a “low to average IQ,” said the lawyer, and while accepting that Wedgewood-Patterson posed a risk to anybody he was in an intimate relationship with, he was not a risk to other people generally, said Mr Harkin.

Recorder Julian Shaw said the defendant’s behaviour towards his partner was  “very alarming.” 

The most serious offence was the coercive and controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship. That offence had included Wedgewood-Patterson subjecting the woman to “degrading, abusive, rude and obnoxious” behaviour.

Expressing the hope that the defendant may now be growing up, and learning that his behaviour was outrageous, the judge suspended the 22-month jail term he imposed for two years.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” said the Recorder.

The sentence includes 15 rehabilitation activity days, 120 days of tagged alcohol abstinence, completing a Building Better Relationships course, and 160 hours of unpaid work. The defendant admitted all of the five offences before the court.