A 41-year-old Limavady man, who drank too much alcohol and "lost the run of himself," threatening his girlfriend at the time with a meat cleaver, was fined £500 in Limavady Magistrate's Court this week.
The court heard on October 30, 2007, Stephen Tommons and his girlfriend had left his home to go to his sister’s house. They had bought alcohol on the way there. When they arrived at his sister’s home he said he saw her talking with someone and believ
ed there may have been a liaison between the two. He proceeded to leave his sisters for his own home and she followed, the two of them subsequently rowing.
The court heard he was in bed with his girlfriend and when she tried to get out of bed he pushed her back. All she remembered was him holding a meat cleaver to her throat and being “frightened for her life”.The court heard how Tommons, from Drumachose Park in the town, had been broken into a number of times and kept the meat cleaver under his pillow.
RM Eamon King heard how the pair were no longer together and had both “moved on,” and that Tommons knew what happened was wrong.
Appearing in court on Wednesday, Tommons told Mr. King, “I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since.”
Mr. King said that in this day and age he could not condone this type of behaviour, what was known as domestic violence. Looking at his record, Mr. King said Tommons was not someone of a violent nature and “that on this occasion you had taken too much alcohol and lost the run of yourself.”
The full article contains 284 words and appears in Journal Friday newspaper.
