A man accused of a “savage” and “brutal” assault has been found not guilty of wounding his partner and making a threat to kill her.
Kane Elliott denied wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, unlawful wounding and making a threat to kill and was found not guilty by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court .
When he was interviewed by the police, the defendant said: “I did not cause injuries.”
The court heard the incident happened at the defendant’s home in Pontnewydd Walk, Cwmbran , on May 21.
Opening the case on Monday , prosecutor Meirion Davies said complainant Rhiannon Davies was attacked by the defendant, adding: “[The attack] can only be described as savage. It was brutal.”
The complainant told the police Elliott cut her with a knife when she refused to do it herself. She described him strangling her while she was on the floor.
Neighbours called 999 after they heard banging from the defendant’s flat and saw Ms Davies in the street.
One neighbour said he called the police after hearing Elliott shout: “Come back or I’ll get a butcher’s knife and skin you alive.”
The court hear Elliot was “very aggressive” when police entered the flat.
He was heard to shout: “Who is she? Get her out of my flat. She’s been in here beating herself up.”
This is how the trial process works:
When officers arrived they found Ms Davies bleeding with two black eyes and swelling to her face.
The court heard she suffered injuries including bruising on her arms and legs and slash marks to her back, which required several stitches.
When he was arrested, the defendant denied causing her injuries and told the police she had caused them herself during “rough sex”.
In his evidence , he said the violence happened during drunken “sex games” which he felt uncomfortable about and tried to stop.
He told the court the complainant said she wanted to try something new and asked him to strangle her, then slapped him across the face.
In his police interview, he said: “I did not do the whole dominatrix thing. It is not the sort of person I am.”
The defendant added: “We were drinking heavily then the sex games began. She was very much into very rough sex.
“She said she wanted to try some new sex stuff. It got really weird. I did not know what to think.
“From there it just got violent. Her idea was to involve the violence with the sex. She insisted on strangulation. She just wanted more and more and more.
“She slapped me across the face. I was not expecting her to hit me. I realised I was not enjoying it. I pushed her off and told her to stop.”
Elliott accepted slapping Ms Davies but said he did not do anything more serious than that.
He continued: “I stopped and pushed her away but she was not happy. She went mad and started smashing up the flat.”
The defendant said the woman threw a wooden table at the floor then grabbed one of the broken legs and hit herself with it before swinging it at him.
Elliott told the court he was knocked unconscious and came round to see blood and Ms Davies playing with a knife.
He said he was addicted to alcohol and had a history of mental health problems. He was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, Asperger’s, mixed personality disorder and schizophrenia.
Elliott, 26, from Pontnewydd Walk in Cwmbran, was found not guilty of all the charges against him following a week-long trial.
It took the jury of six men and six women just over five hours to return their verdicts. Judge David Wynn Morgan thanked them for their work.
