Ilkeston woman-beater 'with look of evil' fled to Spain for months

A woman beater with “a look of evil” went on the run to Spain for months before being arrested when he flew back to East Midlands Airport. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Grant Bateman decided to finally hand himself in to the authorities because what he subjected his former partner to “was at the back of my mind every day”.

The 34-year-old father, of Ilkeston, pinned the woman to the sofa and strangled her, “launched her across the room” and then dragged her across the carpeted floor before locking her outside. Now he has been spared prison but will have to wear an alcohol monitoring tag for six months.

Handing him an 18-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, Judge Mark Watson said: “You and (the victim) were barely in a relationship before it turned toxic, but on March 12, 2022, things really came to a head. She had been out as she is perfectly entitled to do with her friends and returned to an atmosphere of jealousy.

“You’d had enough drink to behave in the way you did and I am told when you are not in drink you are a perfectly nice person. But when you are in drink you are described as ‘vile’.

“You grabbed her by the throat, pinned her to the sofa and then dragged her out of the room and locked her outside for 15 minutes.

“I have read her victim impact statement in which she best describes the way she feels around you as ‘being on tenterhooks’ and that she is fearful of what might happen if she upsets you.”

Dan Scothern, prosecuting, said Bateman and the victim began a relationship in October 2021 but “it did not take long for it to turn sour”. He said on March 12, 2022, she returned to their Ilkeston home and he drunkenly assaulted her after accusing her of speaking to other men. The prosecutor said: “She described him as having ‘a look of evil,’ putting his hands around her throat and strangling her for a few seconds as she lay on the sofa.

“He got on top of her and stopped her breathing briefly and then launched her across the room and into a wall. He then grabbed her and dragged her across the carpeted floor and shut her out for 10 to 15 minutes.”

Mr Scothern said around three weeks later, on April 2, the couple had a second argument where she suffered an injury to her face when the defendant shut a door on her. Bateman, of Ash Street, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

He was due to appear for sentence at Nottingham Crown Court in January of this year but failed to turn up and instead, the court was told, had gone to Spain. He was then arrested earlier this month when he flew into East Midlands Airport.

Laura Pitman, mitigating, said: “He flew out of the country and I asked him why he missed the court hearing and why he decided to fly back to the UK knowing he would be arrested when he landed. He said ‘I could not live with it, every day it was at the back of my mind’.

“A previous employer has said if he is spared immediate custody he will hold a job free for him. It is buying and renting properties and he will be living in one of them in Oxfordshire paying rent and earning £4,000 per month.”

As part of the suspended sentence order, the judge ordered the defendant to attend 15 rehabilitation sessions and to attend a 31-day programme designed to address domestic abuse offending. He also ordered him to wear an alcohol monitoring tag for six months, to pay £750 compensation, £500 towards the prosecution costs and fined him £750.