A jealous and controlling boyfriend strangled and punched his partner in front of her daughter.
Marc Berry pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour, a Section 47 assault, harassment and three common assaults, Bolton Crown Court heard.
But the 35-year-old’s sentence was suspended after his victim, who has remained in a relationship with him, wrote a letter to the court and described him as ‘one of the kindest people she’s ever met’.
Berry, of Glendower Drive, Collyhurst, got into a relationship with his girlfriend in July 2021, the court heard.
The pair were long-time friends and it ‘started well without incident’, prosecution barrister Julian King told the court.
On August 7, his girlfriend was getting ready for a night out and as she went to leave he told her “you aren’t going nowhere.”
Berry then grabbed the woman by the throat and pushed her into a wall.
The woman was struggling to breathe and even after releasing his grip, it took her a number of minutes to be able to talk again.
She told Berry that she wanted to end the relationship but he cried and apologised.
He didn’t let her leave for two hours until she promised to come back later.
Later that evening, the woman became aware that Berry was tracking her phone.
He turned up outside the bar she was in and told her to come out or he’d ‘drag her out by her hair’.
The woman came outside to meet Berry and left with him, but disabled the tracking app on her phone.
Later that month, on August 21, Berry threw hot coffee in his girlfriend’s face after she turned up at his flat.
He asked her why she had turned the tracker off and started punching and kicking walls, again telling her “you aren’t going nowhere” as she tried to leave the room.
Mr King told the court of another occasion where the woman was upstairs in her home and she heard a loud bang coming from downstairs.
Her daughter ran upstairs to tell her that Berry had kicked the door down and when the woman went downstairs, he spat in her face.
On September 10, Berry’s girlfriend was walking through Collyhurst with her daughter and another man.
Mr King said that Berry pulled up in his car and ‘got into an altercation’ with the man.
He then grabbed his girlfriend by the neck and strangled her with both hands.
Berry eventually let go and punched the woman in the head.
Her daughter ran to her and Berry got back in his car and drove away.
Later on, while his girlfriend was still walking, Berry pulled up beside her again and told her to get in.
The court heard that the woman’s daughter was crying and Berry told her: “I don’t want to hurt your baby girl, get in.”
He then tried to hug the girl but the woman pushed him away.
In the following days, Berry told the woman not to call the police and asked her to remove Facebook posts.
He also told her that he had been hurting himself and that there was ‘no point in living’.
Following this, the woman went around to his flat and told him to seek medical help.
Berry set up a number of new accounts on Facebook and Instagram and approached the woman and her daughter while they were out in a park, to tell them that he loved them.
On October 23, Berry arrived at his girlfriend’s home as she was putting Halloween decorations up.
He banged on the window and shouted “let me in, you better let me in now.”
Berry also smashed a pumpkin at the front of the house.
The woman rang the police and Berry was arrested.
During his interview, Berry accepted being in a relationship but denied abusing, stalking, or coercing her.
Throughout the police investigation, Berry’s girlfriend tried to retract statements, the court heard.
Despite this, he pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour, a Section 47 assault, harassment and three common assaults.
The court also heard that Berry has 10 convictions for 20 offences, including a history of harassment and violence against previous partners.
Defending Berry, Vanessa Thomson said: “His guilty pleas are very important and are a demonstration of remorse on his part.
“He accepts what he did was wrong.
“This is a defendant who accepts that he needs help
“He has an issue with jealousy and paranoia. He needs to learn how to deal with that and he’s very keen to work on that in the future.”
Ms Thomson told the court that Berry is a dad-of-three and still has contact with his children.
Talking about a letter that his girlfriend wrote to the court, she added: “She talks about him needing help and if he can control temper and not be paranoid, he’s actually one of the nicest and kindest people she’s ever met, and even goes out of his way to help strangers.”
'Entrenched pattern'
Recorder Simon Hilton referenced Berry’s probation report which described him as having “an entrenched pattern of abusive behaviour involving a number of previous partners”.
Suspending a two year prison sentence for two years, he added: “In light of everything I have heard and read about you, including this that I was handed today written by [your girlfriend] I have decided that this sentence can be suspended.”
Recorder Hilton ordered Berry to complete the ‘Building Better Relationships’ programme and attend 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Berry will also have to do 120 hours of unpaid work.
