JAILED: Black Country bully went on the run after beating girlfriend
A bully who went on the run after beating up his former girlfriend was starting a nine-month prison sentence today.
Samuel Ashley had been in a "volatile, on and off" relationship with the victim for more than a year, a judge was told.
The 37-year-old unemployed defendant's controlling behaviour reduced the successful high-earning businesswoman to a timid woman living on benefits, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
She decided to move from London to Dudley in a bid to start a fresh life and then allowed him to come and visit her, revealed Mr Antoine Muller, prosecuting.
"He was jealous, checked her phone, called her offensive names and struck her in the face while holding his phone," Mr Muller continued.
The victim was taken to hospital where a facial wound was treated and glued.
Two days later she made an official complaint to the police and Ashley, who was living with his parents in St Gothard Road, West Norwood, was arrested.
He denied assault and a trial date was set for April 10.
He was bailed to that date on January 4 but did not appear for the trial.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on April 11 and he was tried and convicted in his absence, the court heard.
The victim told in a statement how he "smashed" the phone into her face and then refused to call an ambulance.
He then drove her aimlessly around for an hour as she bled heavily, it was said.
When she finally reached an A&E department he told medical staff that she had fallen down stairs while chasing a dog and she did not have the courage to contradict him, the woman later told police.
Mr David Swinnerton, defending, conceded: "He made no effort to give himself up, just buried his head in the sand and hoped it would go away.
"He has struggled with his own mental issues and has tried to deal with them by drinking too much. That is why he became a violent partner."
In addition to being found guilty of assault, Ashley, who was rearrested after being stopped in London while driving without insurance, admitted absconding and was sent to prison by Judge James Burbidge QC who told him: "You were verging on coercive behaviour."
