Anthony Yewman trial: Southampton Crown Court hears man who styles himself as the Joker only strangled his ‘Harley Quinn’ once after she attacked him
A man who styles himself on the Joker and is accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend twice said he throttled her only once after she attacked him first, Southampton Crown Court has heard.
Anthony Yewman (45) made the claim during a police interview which was played to a jury at his trial today (Monday).
In it Yewman – who had green hair at the time and teardrop tattoos down his face – claimed Jennifer Dalton had looked at him “like an absolute psychopath” before scratching his arm and grabbing his throat.
He said that she had hurt him by “pinching” his Adam’s apple, adding: “I just went for her. I grabbed her round the throat with two hands and pushed her back on the bed to make her stop.”
He added: “It was weird. I did it a bit too hard. I should have pushed her by her shoulders.
“I said ‘Sorry babe, sorry’ afterwards.”
Ms Dalton, whom Yewman referred to as “his Harley Quinn” – the Joker’s sidekick and love interest – told the jury last week that he had strangled her twice to the point of unconsciousness during a row at her home in Fordingbridge on 30th August last year.
But in his police interview Yewman, from Romford, Essex, said he had throttled her only once and she had not passed out. He has denied attempted murder, causing grevious bodily harm with intent, and intentional strangulation. The charges are all alternatives.
After his arrest he told officers that the couple had been in a relationship for two years after he had messaged her on Facebook, adding: “I never expected her to message back I thought she was way out of my league.”
But he said they had fallen in love: “I’m Joker and she’s my Harley Quinn.”
Yewman, who was working as a security guard at the time they met, said he suffered from mental health problems including schizophrenia, depression and anxiety.
He said they had been made worse by his relationship with Ms Dalton: “My mental health has gone through the roof. I have tried to hang myself, throw myself off a bridge, took overdoses.
“She has seven personalities. One of them is the most beautiful women in the world.”
He said they would “be fine” but she would then change and accuse him of cheating.
Yewman said: “I go to the shops and she kicks off saying ‘You have slept with someone else’. Says I have disappeared to sleep with someone while I was in her bed, but I would have to climb over her and wake her up.
“One minute she’s all lovely and then she turns into someone else. I can’t handle it, my mental health is so bad but I love her more than anything in the world.”
Yewman denied cheating on Ms Dalton. Referring to tattoos he has of her name and face on his body, he said: “I’ve got her name down there, all over my bits. I said when she said I had slept with someone ‘Ask them about the tattoos, they would know about the tattoos I have down there if I had’.”
In her evidence Ms Dalton said that she had gone to a refuge in June to “get away” from Yewman and that she had only agreed to return home with him after her room was robbed. But she said she had made it clear they were finished.
But the defendant told officers that the two had regularly stayed in a tent near the refuge while she was there sometimes for up to three days at a time saying: “We went for walks, did things couples do, she told me we would be together forever.”
Yewman said on the day of the alleged attack the two were packing up to move: “She said we were going to have a fresh start. I was saving for us to get married.
“Then she was looking at me strange, angrily, and said ‘I hope you had a great night last night.’” I was like ‘Hold on a minute, we were all lovey dovey.’”
He said she had then attacked him and he retaliated saying: “If someone slaps you, you slap them back. I wasn’t in my right mind. I’ve had enough, I’m losing my f****** mind.
“I’ve lost everything because of her, my house, my friends, my family. But I love her – I’d live in a cardboard box (for her).”
