A 20-YEAR-OLD woman has told a court how her former partner threatened to kill her with a hammer and said he wanted to squeeze her neck “until she was purple”.
The alleged victim told a jury in the Royal Court that 26-year-old Andre Correia would spit in her face, push her and slap her.
He also tried to keep her apart from her friends and family, and would bombard her with threatening and abusive messages when she went out without him, the court heard.
The woman was giving evidence on the first day of Mr Correia’s trial for domestic abuse.
He denies the charge.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said that the alleged victim and Mr Correia started going out in 2022, and it had been a happy relationship until June 2023 when she said his behaviour changed.
Advocate Hallam said he became “a controlling, aggressive and threatening man”, regularly pushing and shoving the woman, as well as being abusive and damaging furniture in her flat.
The prosecution advocate said: “He told her: ‘My wish is to squeeze your neck until you are purple.’”
Giving evidence, the woman said the behaviour continued until February this year.
She told the court: “He got a hammer out of his bag. He said he would kill me and wouldn’t care if he went to prison.”
The court was played a recording of a call to the police she made that night.
Advocate Ian Jones, defending, said that Mr Correia had suffered a major bereavement during the course of the relationship and asked the woman: “Do you agree that that was a source of stress and upset for him?”
She said: “That’s not an excuse.”
The trial is expected to last two more days.
Commissioner Sir William Bailhache is presiding with Jurats Jane Ronge and Andrew Cornish.
