No jail for violent husband who punched wife
A violent husband created a scene in the hospital where his wife had been taken after he felled her with a punch at their home, a judge heard.
Security guards were called after David Mills started shouting at Karen Mills in the Accident and Emergency Department of Sandwell General Hospital while she was being treated by medical staff.
She had a ‘nasty’ injury to the forehead and bruising under the left eye but did not want to report the incident to the police, said Mrs Sati Ruck, prosecuting, at Wolverhampton Crown Court
However, hospital staff did alert officers and Mrs Mills was alleged to have claimed to have been a victim of domestic violence during more than 30 years of marriage.
She declined to make a formal statement, withdrew her support for the prosecution of her husband and wrote a letter urging the judge to be merciful with him, the hearing was told.
The 53-year-old defendant, who had a previous conviction for violence involving his wife, admitted that they had been drinking and he had punched.
She had then fallen to the floor at their home in Claypit Lane, West Bromwich, following the attack on September 24.
Mrs Kamalpreet Shergill, defending, said the couple had been reconciled.
She also stressed that Mills did not agree there had been more than 30 years of domestic violence during their marriage.
The lawyer continued in court: “There has been some volatility between them.
“We are in court today over something that spiralled out of control and involved a single punch.”
Mills admitted assault and was given a 20 week jail sentence, suspended for a year.
He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.
Recorder Owain Thomas QC said the defendant had narrowly escaped immediate custody because there was ‘some prospect of rehabilitation and him having a mutually respectful relationship with his wife’.
