Sheffield Crown Court: South Yorkshire man who punched partner and called her 'waste of space' is spared jail

Brian Hill and the complainant had been together for around 10 years when their relationship began to break down, prosecuting barrister Stephanie Hollis told the court on Thursday, March 3.

The period of abuse inflicted by Hill ran between 2015 and June 2021, when matters finally came to a head and the complainant reported him to the police.

After the couple moved to a new address with their three children, two of whom are from the complainant’s previous relationship, Hill’s temper began to flare and he started calling her ‘derogatory names', the court heard.

"She said these terms would be used for no apparent reason, if he didn’t like the way she hung the washing up or made the bed,” Ms Hollis said.

The complainant said the first time Hill was violent with her was in 2015, when he ‘took hold of her arm and threw her on to her bed’.

Ms Hollis said: "When she was lying face down, he put his hands around her neck. She was struggling to breathe. She genuinely felt she was in danger.”

In a police statement read out in court, a neighbour of the couple’s described seeing Hill shouting at the complainant and ‘punching her several times’ during an incident that took place in 2019.

The next incident of violence described in court took place on June 15 last year, when Hill became angry over washing up that he believed should have been done by the complainant.

After calling her a ‘waste of space,’ Hill then proceeded to punch the complainant and pull her out of their house.

The complainant’s 11-year-old daughter witnessed the assault, and the court was told how she subsequently described being ‘genuinely afraid’ of Hill.

Hill was reported to the police by the complainant following this incident.

The court was told how Hill also called the complainant names and used derogatory language on several occasions during the course of their relationship, which she said made her ‘feel worthless’.

Recorder Andrew Smith MBE told Hill: “You regularly used the type of language that not only intimidates but undermines a person’s confidence.”

In a statement read to the court, the complainant said she felt as though ‘a weight has been lifted’ now that the relationship was over, but she described suffering from continued flashbacks.

Hill, of Royston Road, Cudworth, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to charges of harassment and assault by beating at an earlier hearing.

The court was told that Hill does not have any previous convictions.

However, Recorder Smith noted that domestic violence guidelines suggest that a lack of offending, or ‘good character,’ is of ‘limited importance’ in cases such as Hill’s because of the way in which abusers can have ‘a public and a private face that are very different’.

"Indeed, that was referred to by the complainant. She said you were able to show a different side to your personality to others,” Recorder Smith said.

Damian Broadbent, defending, referred Recorder Smith to Hill’s pre-sentence report, through which the defendant had described the remorse he feels.

Recorder Smith described Hill’s offending as a ‘long period of bad behaviour’ and said that while his offending warranted a custodial sentence he felt able to ‘step back’ from sending him straight to prison due his guilty plea and the remorse he has shown.

He sentenced Hill to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and handed him a 24 month community order, a requirement of which is the completion of a ‘building better relationships’ programme.

Recorder Smith also granted a restraining order which prohibits Hill from contacting the complainant for five years, and ordered him to complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.