Wife beaten for going to see the Chippendales (From Daily Echo)

Wife beaten for going to see the Chippendales

4:30pm Saturday 19th May 2012 in Southampton

AN angry husband attacked his wife because she had gone to see male dance group The Chippendales with a friend.

Simon Forbes assaulted Suzanne because he was so furious she had gone to see the group – famous for entertaining female audiences with their seminaked dance routines and bulging biceps.

When she got home from the show Forbes headbutted her, breaking her glasses, causing a cut to her nose that needed stitches and giving her two black eyes, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Unyime Davies said Mrs Forbes had told police she had “walked on eggshells” over the years and her husband could flare up at any time.

He assaulted her again after he had returned home from a night shift and wanted sex. She did not want to but went along with it.

The 48-year-old then suddenly grabbed her ankles, dragged her to the bottom of the bed and slapped her legs. She fled to her mother’s and when she returned the following day, she found the doors locked from the inside and her things at the bottom of the stairs.

Forbes, of Chapel Close, West End, told police had been drinking half a litre of whisky a day.

He pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and common assault.

After reading a letter from his wife who sat in the public gallery, the judge Recorder Richard Onslo gave Forbes a six-month suspended sentence with two years supervision with an order to attend a probation service run domestic abuse programme.

Andy Houston, mitigating, said Forbes realised his drinking had been spiralling out of control and he was attending Alcoholics Anonymous. He and his wife were trying to rebuild their relationship.