A thug who viciously strangled his grandmother after headbutting her and repeatedly punching her in the ribs when she told him to stop drinking alcohol has been jailed. Matthew Jonathan, 37, attacked 88-year-old Barbara Jenkins on September 9 last year after he slammed a bottle on a table and declared: "If I want to f****** drink I will and no-one is going to stop me."
After the incident, he claimed his grandmother was a 'liar' and said she had sustained injuries from falling over, Wales Online reports. The defendant had been taken in by grandmother following the breakdown of his marriage and he became violent after Mrs Jenkins told her grandson she was going to call his mum Tracey Jonathan.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard Mrs Jenkins described her relationship with Jonathan as 'good' but he became a 'completely different person' when he drank alcohol. On the morning of the attack, the OAP noticed her grandson was drinking alcohol and told him to stop as 'it wasn't healthy'.
When he refused, he called her daughter, the defendant's mother to come round but upon hearing this Jonathan went over to Mrs Jenkins and placed a fist against her face and head. Describing the incident prosecutor James Evans said: "He headbutted her and caused her bruises. He picked up a shoe and threw that at her, making contact with her chest causing, further bruises.
"She said she would tell his mother about what he'd done and he grabbed her by the arms, twisting the skin so that caused it to cut. She showed him the injuries and he slapped her to the face five times. He grabbed her by the head and pulled it down behind his arm with her body against his and punched her repeatedly to her ribs.
"He said to her: 'I'll choke you' and he put his fingers around her throat and applied pressure. She tried to grab his fingers from her throat but was not strong enough.
"She pretended she had passed out but this didn't have any great effect on him. He was shouting at her at her to wake up and eventually the incident came to an end."
When Mrs Jenkins' daughter arrived at the house, she discovered her son lying face-down on the sofa and her mother lying on a lounger covered in blood. She said to Jonathan: "What the hell have you done?"
A neighbour helped take Mrs Jenkins to hospital as the 88-year-old said: "He has kicked the s*** out of me." Police spoke to the woman who told them Jonathan had strangled her on September 6, days before the assault and had left her with a lump on her throat.
Jonathan, of no fixed abode, was found by police asleep at his grandmother's house and he was arrested. He said Mrs Jenkins was 'a liar and manipulative', claiming the injuries had been caused by her falling over and hitting herself on door handles.
He later pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Mrs Jenkins told officers the attack had a 'significant impact' on her and left her unable to sleep for fear of her violent grandson coming back to her home
She said she was struggling to get out of bed, was in a lot of pain and couldn't leave the house without her daughter. In mitigation defence barrister Hannah Friedman said her client pleaded guilty to the offences on the first day of his trial as he stated that he loved his grandmother and "couldn't put her through it".
She told the court that Jonathan was going through a difficult time following the end of his marriage and loss of contact with his two kids. She added the defendant was aware alcohol could no longer play a part in his life.
Sentencing, Recorder Barry Clarke said: "You are an adult man in your 30s and she was a vulnerable woman in her 80s. Of course she was no match for you.... You sought to blame your own grandmother and I am not persuaded you feel genuine remorse."
Jonathan was sentenced to 27 months behind bars and was also made subject to a restraining order which prevents him from contacting his grandmother indefinitely.
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