Controlling boyfriend who beat his lover so badly he kept her off work and lied to her bosses that she’d been in a car crash is jailed for six years
- Christopher Cooksey made Stephanie Watkiss say ‘it’s you I want’ in beating
- Lied to her colleagues to keep her off work as he feared them seeing her bruises
- He forced her to snort line after line of cocaine following Christmas party row
- Jailed over three counts of assault occasioning ABH and false imprisonment
Cooksey forced his victim to snort line after line of cocaine and down Malibu as well as beating her
An abusive boyfriend who beat his girlfriend while making her say ‘it’s you I want’ and told her boss she’d had a car crash to keep her out of work and hide her bruises has been jailed.
Plasterer Christopher Cooksey, 33, from Pontypool, Gwent, flew into a rage after finding a picture of a man on girlfriend Stephanie Watkiss’ mobile.
His 29-year-old victim – who was only permitted four contacts in her phone – curled into a ball as she ‘waited and prayed’ for the attack to be over.
She recalled the horror of the attack at Cardiff Crown Court, where Cooksey was jailed for six years after previously confiding in her sister that there was ‘no way out’.
Miss Watkiss said: ‘I remember him shoving the phone in my face, saying: “You fancy him. What does this mean?”
‘I remember him being outraged. He completely lost it. I was on the bed and I remember him punching me repeatedly to the ribs.
‘I tried to put my arm in the way, then he was punching my arm. Then he punched me in the face.
‘I tried to curl up. I closed my eyes and I could see flashing lights as he hit me. My head hit the wall with the force of him punching my head. I just waited and prayed for it to be over.’
The pair began dating after meeting at the gym, but Cooksey soon became ‘obsessed’ with Miss Watkiss’ ex-boyfriends.
Miss Watkiss, 29, (pictured) was beaten so badly that she was kept off work by Cooksey, who told her employer that she had been in a car crash in order to hide her bruises from colleagues
When Cooksey became angry about a Facebook message from 2016, he forced his girlfriend to drink the Caribbean rum Malibu.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said: ‘He returned to the room with a bottle of Malibu, forcing her to drink a large amount. She took herself half-dressed to the kitchen to drink the Malibu. She forced it down as he watched.’
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He also forced her to snort line after line of cocaine following a row at an office Christmas party.
Miss Watkiss’ sister, Samantha, told how Cooksey was in charge of Stephanie’s phone and sent all her messages.
Cooksey (pictured) was jailed for six years after beating his girlfriend while making her tell him ‘it’s you I want’
‘She did not have a phone anymore,’ she said. ‘Chris was in control of her phone. Stephanie said: “This is my life now. There is no way out of this”.’
When he was arrested Cooksey said to police: ‘We got on great. Everything seemed perfect.’
But the ‘dangerous’ thug unleashed a string of attacks on his girlfriend in December last year.
After one attack he said to his terrified girlfriend: ‘Why do you make me do this? You always push me to the edge.’
Mr Cobbe said Cooksey also stopped his partner going to work. Mr Cobbe said: ‘She tried to tell him that she could cover the bruising with make up but he was adamant that she wouldn’t go.’
Between December 7 and December 16 Miss Watkiss was not allowed to leave the house.
Cooksey kept her phone and sent a message to her employers saying she was in a car crash and would not be in work for a week.
Mr Cobbe said: ‘She only left the flat when she was in his company. She was not allowed to leave his side.’
Miss Watkiss told the court: ‘I remember looking at my face. I had a black eye. My arm was black and heavy. My ribs hurt so much I could not lie down to sleep.’
Cooksey was found guilty of three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and false imprisonment.
He was cleared of administering a false substance and another assault charge at Cardiff Crown court.
Sentencing at Newport Crown Court, Judge Thomas Crowther condemned Cooksey’s behaviour as he jailed him for six years.
‘She had huge hopes for you – they were not to last,’ he said. ‘You were obsessed with how many people she had slept with. She told you it shouldn’t matter and that you would be the last one but that wasn’t enough for you.
‘These were sustained and repeated attacks on a vulnerable woman. There was degradation on each offence.
‘Within weeks of meeting Stephanie you made her a prisoner in your home. You have caused serious psychological harm and you drove her to the brink of harm.’
Cooksey was also ordered by the court to keep away from Stephanie by the judge imposing a restraining order.
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