‘Jealous and paranoid’ Bassetlaw man tried to strangle his ‘terrified’ partner

Nathan Grimes grabbed her around the neck and squeezed when they returned to their hotel room in Peterborough while celebrating his birthday, in December, last year.

Prosecutor Syed Ahmed said his "terrified" victim "believed she was going to die" as he banged her head against the wall.

She clawed at his hands and got free, but when she called the front desk, Grimes caused "excruciating pain" prying her fingers from the receiver.

When security guards came to the room, she packed her belongings and left, ending the two-and-a-half year relationship.

Mr Ahmed said Grimes, aged 52, continued to harrass her, making more than 40 calls in a single day, and ignored a non-molestation order she obtained from the courts in January.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Grimes also locked her in the bathroom of a hotel room while celebrating her birthday, in September, last year. He threw her on to the bed and ripped her clothing, forcing her to leave and get a lift home.

In a statement, his victim said she suffers flashbacks to her ordeal and panics when she sees vehicles that look like his. She described the end of the relationship as “my worst nightmare.”

The court heard Grimes "tried to downplay his role" when he was interviewed by probation, and he was cautioned for harassment against the same woman in July 2020.

Anna Soubry, mitigating, said: “He has never been in trouble of this magnitude before. He has been in custody since January 24.

"His time in prison has achieved what you would hope it would achieve. He found the time extremely difficult and quite shocking.

“He is desperately sorry for what he has done and the considerable distress he has caused.”

She said Grimes, a coal merchant, was “hard-working, stable, and well-respected,” but had now “lost his good name in the community.”

Grimes, of Chestnut Way, Tuxford, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual harm, assault, breaching a court order, and harassment, on January 25.

On Wednesday, Judge John Sampson imposed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 100 days of alcohol-abstinence monitoring, 20 rehabilitation days, and a five-year restraining order.

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