Romford man Anthony Yewman, who is accused of attempted murder, strangled ex-girlfriend from Fordingbridge, court hears
A man who “identifies” as comic book villain the Joker tried to kill his partner by strangling her twice in her New Forest home, a court trial heard.
Jennifer Dalton thought she was “going to die” during the attack by her on-off partner of two years, 45-year-old Anthony Yewman, prosecutor Matthew Farmer said.
He is accused of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation, all three charges “alternatives” for the jury at Southampton Crown Court to consider. He has pleaded not guilty to all three.
During the trial this week, the court heard how Yewman identifies as the Batman villain the Joker, and that he called Ms Dalton “his Harley Quinn”, another comic book character who is the Joker’s sidekick and occasional love interest.
Mr Farmer said: “She was clearly in love with him and he was, the prosecution suggest, obsessed by her.”
Despite that Ms Dalton maintained they had only “spent weeks together” rather than months and would frequently break up.
The prosecutor said that in May last year the defendant had spray painted “I met my soul mate when I met you” over her garden wall when she had broken up with him again.
This had prompted her to go to a refuge but he tracked her down and left flowers outside it.
In an interview with police Ms Dalton said Yewman had attacked her at her home in Waverley Close, Fordingbridge, on 30th August last year after she had seen sleeping pills and asked him if he had drugged her with them.
Mr Matthew said that Yewman, who is from Romford, Essex, had shut the bedroom door and told her: “You’re not going anywhere.”
Ms Dalton said she claimed he had a look on his face “that she had never seen before” and had then “jumped on her” pinning her arms down with his knees.
She told officers that she felt absolutely hopeless. She said he started strangling her and she passed out.
The next thing she remembered was Yewman trying to “wake” her up by blowing in her mouth, doing chest compressions and slapping her round the face saying: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Ms Dalton told police that the defendant had then put the Stanley knife to his throat. When she told him “Don’t!” the prosecutor said Yewman had replied: “Oh you’re alive, I’ll finish you off and then I’ll do myself.”
She said he then strangled her again, telling officers that “every inch of him was like he meant it” adding that his muscles were “bulging”. Ms Dalton, the jury heard, said she remembered it “getting dark and I felt like I couldn’t breathe”.
Ms Dalton then heard banging on the door and realised it was her daughter, Juliette. Yewman, she told police, had then stopped and told her “look what you’ve done.”
Juliette then called 999.
When police arrived at the house, the court heard, he told officers that Ms Dalton had attacked him and he had “retaliated”.
He claimed they had been rowing because she had accused him of cheating on her.
Yewman dramatically collapsed in the dock as a video of his former partner’s police interview was played to the court.
In it Ms Dalton said she had asked him to leave before he attacked her, adding: “I don’t like the way you make me feel. I feel insecure.”
She said her neck was swollen and painful after the first strangulation attempt: “The second time was worse because I knew it was coming. It seemed to be longer. If it hadn’t been for Juliette, I wouldn’t be here.”
Ms Dalton said that there had been “no argument” before the attack and although Yewman could be “really nasty” to her, she had “never been scared of him: “I never thought he would hurt me.”
She said although the couple argued frequently she “absolutely adored” him: “I just loved him for all his ridiculousness.”
She said he would sometimes refuse to let her leave after they argued: “In my stupid, deluded brain, I thought he ‘doesn’t want me to go, he loves me’.”
Ms Dalton said she had tried to help Yewman with mental health problems, saying: “He is very ill, he feels very down.
“I really loved him, even with what he has done, part of me will always love him. He is so broken, he has to destroy everything around him.”
She started sobbing as she said: “I just want him to get help. I still love him.”
At this moment Yewman fell to the floor of the dock and could be heard crying loudly. The judge ordered the trial be adjourned until the next day.
The trial continues.
