Man jailed for strangling woman and boy

A man has been jailed for four and a half years for strangling a woman and a boy in a fit of drunken rage.

Dorset Police were called to an address in Eagle House Gardens, Blandford Forum, at about 19:00 BST on 27 August 2024.

The woman was strangled until she was unconscious, while the boy was attacked when he heard his mother's cries and came to investigate, Bournemouth Crown Court heard. Both of the victims survived.

Matthew Dominey, 42, formerly of Blandford, previously pleaded guilty to charges of GBH with intent and intentional strangulation.

At one point while the attacks were going on, a pizza was delivered to the address, the court was told.

The delivery driver called the police after Dominey opened the door with blood on his arm, prosecutors said.

The strangled woman stabbed him in the leg in self-defence, the judge was told.

She thought she and her son were going to die during a prolonged ordeal in which she passed out twice and in a Victim Personal Statement, read by a prosecutor, she said she was still traumatised by her experience.

Judge William Mousley told Dominey: "You put her in a headlock and lay on top of her so she couldn't breathe.

"She was unable to swallow food the following day."

Imposing a restraining order, he said the defendant would serve half of his sentence before being released on licence.

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