A Penrith man heard he could receive a prison sentence for assaulting his wife by burning her with a pair of hair straighteners.
Graeme Kingsley Bell, 40, of King Street, faced four charges when he appeared in front of a judge at Carlisle Crown Court this morning.
Bell admitted two common assaults on the woman. One was committed during July 2015, when he had burned her with a pair of straighteners, the court heard. A second assault occurred on September 28 last year.
Bell pleaded not guilty to two further charges. One had alleged that he used controlling and coercive behaviour towards the woman between July 2015, and September last year; a second alleged that he assaulted her, causing actual bodily harm.
Judge Nicholas Barker adjourned the case and ordered the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report. “He has no previous convictions to speak of,” noted Judge Barker. “Clearly something is going wrong in his life to start behaving this way at his age.”
The pre-sentence report should address all possible options, including a custodial punishment, said the judge.
During a previous magistrates’ court hearing, a district judge was told that the couple had been together for around 15 years and married for 13 of those years.
Bell was granted bail on condition that he does not contact the woman in any way. He is due to be sentenced for the two common assaults by a judge at the crown court on June 28.
