A MONKTON man held a knife to his partner’s throat after an argument broke out over his drinking.

Officers were called to an address in Pembroke on July 28 last year following reports of a “domestic incident”, the prosecution previously told the court.

Michael Davies was sitting in the porch area, and officers reported that he smelt of alcohol. He was handcuffed after the officers were informed that there had been a knife at the scene.

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The officers saw that the victim had red marks across her throat – around six inches in length, Mr Walters said, prosecuting.

The victim told the officers she had argued with Davies, and he had grabbed a knife and held it to her throat.

In a later interview with police, she said that the argument broke out after she told him he needed to address his alcohol problems in time for a family reunion.

The defendant – who had been drinking cans of Stella Artois – said ‘How dare you tell me what to do’ before leaving the room and telling the victim to ‘Get the f*** out of my house’.

“He then produced a knife,” Mr Walters said. “He grabbed her by the top and held the knife to her throat.”

The victim described feeling “terrified” by the incident and “felt the defendant would kill her”, Mr Walters said.

The court heard that, following the incident, Davies removed a CCTV camera from the room.

In a police interview, Davies denied assaulting the woman and said he was “unaware how [she] was injured”. He also refused to give officers his phone passcode, which would have allowed them to view the CCTV footage.

He later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Davies, 47, of Haven Court in Monkton, has 69 previous convictions for 136 offences.

Dyfed Thomas, defending, said Davies now accepted the relationship was over and had “genuine remorse” over his actions.

He said Davies was struggling with his mental health, and added: “There’s clearly a difficulty with drink”.

Davies had been sober for four years, Mr Thomas said, but the assault arose “during a lapse in that sobriety”.

“This clearly should have been before the court much, much sooner,” he added – referencing the delay in the case coming before the court.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said: “Although the injury appears to be relatively superficial, it is difficult to imagine the terror the victim will have felt having the knife held to her throat.

“She didn’t know how far he was going to go, and I dare say he didn’t know how far he was going to go.”

The hearing was initially held on October 9, but was adjourned until Wednesday, November 8 for more information to be provided.

Judge Thomas sentenced Davies to 15 months, suspended for two years. As part of this, Davies must complete a ‘Building Better Relationships’ programme, and comply with an alcohol monitoring requirement for 120 days.

His victim was granted a three-year restraining order.