A Basford man who threatened, abused and objectified his long-term partner has been jailed under a new law.
Nigel Wolitter boasted to his victim that he knew how to manipulate the legal system into not being caught, but has now been sent to prison for four and a half years under new rules introduced in December covering ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’.
The 30-year-old admitted the offence along with two charges of causing actual bodily harm, putting a person in fear of violence and two charges of criminal damage.
The court was told Wolitter was arrested on June 13 after he threw a tin of white gloss paint over machinery at a business owned by a member of the victim’s family – causing thousands of pounds of damage – after the victim had refused his demands to give him £30 so he could buy cannabis.
An investigation by officers from the specialist Notts Police Domestic Abuse and Investigation Team led to Wolitter being charged under the law, brought in to better protect victims of domestic abuse.
Wolitter assaulted his partner, causing actual bodily harm, between June 2014 and April 2016 and the victim kept a folder on her phone full of pictures showing the injuries he inflicted, including pen stab marks.
In a statement read out in court, the victim said: “Nigel controlled every aspect of my life; from where I went, to what I wore, to what possessions he allowed me to own. I wasn’t a person, but an object to him.”
It also emerged Wolitter walked over a car belonging to a member of the victim’s family, causing damage in December 2015 after a demand for money was refused.
The court imposed a restraining order, banning him from making contact with the victim or her family for life.
Det Con Chris Taylor of Notts Police said: “The victim was one of the bravest people that I have ever met throughout my policing career, especially as she attended the court and even faced him as he stood in the dock while the prosecutor summarised her harrowing experiences and the sentence was passed.”
