The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A man who admitted intentionally strangling his partner at her Spalding home was today (Wednesday) jailed for 34 months.
Lincolnshire Police charged Benjamin Flatters under new legislation which was introduced earlier this year to protect victims of domestic abuse.
Flatters will also serve a further 12 months on extended licence following his release from jail after a judge concluded he was a “dangerous person.”
Lincoln Crown Court heard police were called to the woman’s Spalding home in Savoy Close on 23 June after Flatters put two hands on her throat at the top of the stairs.
Phil Howes said the couple had met on the dating site Tinder six weeks earlier and the relationship had initially gone well.
However the woman became concerned about Flatter’s drinking, and they split up briefly, before resuming their relationship.
Mr Howes told the court Flatters was open with the woman about having been to prison, and she knew he was not allowed to stay at his home overnight when her two young children were present.
The court heard a “text row” broke out between the couple when the woman went out and continued on 23 June.
Mr Howes said Flatters put two hands on the woman’s throat at the top of the stairs and pressed his face into hers.
The incident then continued when she was thrown onto a bed.
The woman said she believed the incident lasted for around two to five minutes.
She eventually managed to leave the house and asked a neighbour to ring the police.
Mr Howes said Flatters also threw the woman’s phone and damaged her glasses.
CCTV footage from outside the home showed Flatters shouting at his partner that he would now be going back to prison, and making a threat to burn her house.
When police arrived they took photographs of red marks around the woman’s neck, although the prosecution accepted there were no serious injuries.
The court heard Flatters texted an apology to his partner the day after the strangulation and then spent several days with her and the two children in the West Country before he was arrested by Northamptonshire Police on 30 June.
During police interview Flatters shrugged his shoulders when the strangulation matter was put to him.
In a victim impact statement the woman said she was “anxious” despite Flatters being on remand in prison and was paranoid about his release from jail.
She continues to suffer flashbacks about being strangled in her own bedroom.
Mark Knowles, mitigating, said the injuries themselves would be classed as a common assault.
Mr Knowles told the court Flatters’ partner was well aware of his background and knew he shouldn’t be stopping with her.
A guilty plea was indicated to the strangulation offence at the first opportunity.
Flatters, 32, of Dorchester Road, Spalding, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation, threatening to set the woman’s home on fire, and criminal damage to her glasses and mobile phone on June 23.
He also admitted failing to require with a notification requirement by staying at the woman’s home.
Passing sentence Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told Flatters that Parliament had enacted a new law to deal with the dangers of strangulation.
Judge Sjolin Knight said Flatters behaviour marked an escalation of his conduct towards other women, and she had concluded he was a “dangerous person.”
A ten year restraining order was also made to prevent Flatters contacting his ex-partner.
The charge of non-fatal strangulation comes as a result of the creation of a new offence under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which was introduced nationally on June 7 2022.
In December last year, Benjamin Flatters, previously of Washway Road, Fleet, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment after admitting affray and possession of a knife at the Anglia Motel in Fleet in September 2021.
Lincoln Crown Court then heard Flatters was suffering paranoia when he took a kitchen knife from another guest’s room and wandered around the hotel with it.
In February 2018, Flatters also injured two innocent women when he lost his temper during an argument and threw a glass across a busy nightclub in Boston.
He had been arguing with his then girlfriend during a night out in Brown’s Bar, in Dolphin Lane, and suddenly threw a half-pint beer glass towards the dancefloor in anger.
