Assault charge after hearing of affair

Troy Andrew Thornley, 46, of Chesterfield Road South, Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to assaulting and harassing the woman in Stanton Hill on October 10, last year.

Jo Chadd, prosecuting, told Mansfield Magistrates Court that Mr Thornley had returned home from the pub after drinking eight pints of beer - double what he normally drank - and confronted the woman, who denied being unfaithful.

She said: “The complainant says she was pushed by the shoulders and this caused her to bang her head against the wall.”

The court heard the complainant fled the house on Brand Lane. Mr Thornley followed her to a nearby address but was not admitted, so he returned home and went to bed.

She later returned home and Mr Thornley admitted smashing a computer table out of frustration.

Miss Chad asked him if he had ‘lost control’.

He said: “I asked her if she was having an affair and she flatly denied it. I didn’t touch her. If she wanted out of the relationship she only had to say and I would have walked out of the house.”

The court heard he had served a prison term in the past for assaulting the woman during their 17-year relationship which had been ‘on and off’.

Chris Perry, defending, said: “Factually she was either pushed and banged her head or she wasn’t. Mr Thornley has been consistent and clear and honest, warts and all.

“Why on earth would the complainant come back from a place of safety to go back to a place where she had been assaulted?

“It does fly against the logic of the case.”

He said Mr Thornley had taken steps to curb his alcohol intake.

Magistrates said they could not be satisfied the assault really happened, and gave him a 12 month conditional discharge, describing Mr Thornley’s record as ‘extremely unattractive’.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £15 in relation to the damaged table.

He was banned from contacting his ex-partner for two years.