Court finds soldier not guilty of assault (From Thisisdorset)

Court finds soldier not guilty of assault

12:20pm Saturday 5th January 2013 in Latest

A SOLDIER has been cleared of allegations that he assaulted his estranged wife.

John Andrew Davies, 29, of Styles Lane, Puddletown, denied one charge of common assault and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his wife, Emma Davies.

After a three-day trial at Dorchester Crown Court, a jury returned not guilty verdicts on both counts.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Edward Elton told the court that two altercations took place in April 2011, when the couple were living apart.

He said: “Emma Davies said she was a bit miffed about her husband so brazenly parading his new girlfriend about.”

Summing up, Judge Roger Jarvis said Mr Davies, a trained infantry soldier, had said he had been trying to stop his wife entering a room where his new partner was, when she lost her footing and fell down the stairs.

On a separate occasion, the couple had a heated discussion at the marital home on the Kingston Maurward estate.

Defending, Jamie Porter said: “She told a monstrous lie.

“No-one saw any violence apart from Emma Davies.

“She said she was grabbed around the throat several times but there was no reddening.

“There is nothing to suggest she was grabbed in that way.”