A HUSBAND who replaced his wife's bed with a blow-up mattress and a dog cage has been given a suspended jail term.

The upsetting incident was part of 14 months of "controlling and coercive" behaviour exhibited by 46-year-old Kostas Fragoulis, who was convicted in 2020 when he failed to attend his trial at Carlisle's Rickergate court.

He had left the country. Fragoulis denied wrongdoing but was convicted of the offence as well as assaulting his estranged wife’s brother.

Prosecutor George Shelley outlined the facts, explaining that the offending behaviour happened between January 2019, and March the following year.

The couple disagreed over certain issues and the wife reported that Fragoulis would become angry “very quickly.” She had sold a car to settle bills linked to the renovation of their house in Burgh-by-Sands.

“There were arguments in relation to that,” said Mr Shelley.

On March 16, 2020, the defendant’s wife returned home from a day at work to find that an air mattress was in her bedroom instead of her bed, with a dog cage on top of it, while the rest of the room had been left in a mess.

“She stayed awake all night, feeling anxious,” said Mr Shelley. Two days later, her brother went to the house to speak to Fragoulis and the defendant yelled abuse at him.

In yet another incident, the defendant cleared a shed of his wife’s belongings, leaving them outside in the rain as he stood laughing.

The court heard that Fragoulis left the UK before his trial got underway.

Chris Toms, defending, said the breakdown of the defendant’s marriage had led to him doing “silly things.” He had never been before a court before and what happened had been deeply out of character, said the lawyer.

Explaining why the defendant, a businessman, left the UK, Mr Toms said: “He received a communication that his father was very unwell… and needed to go for an operation.”

As a result, Fragoulis had returned to Greece to helps his family there.

He surrendered himself to the authorities when he returned to the UK. Mr Toms said there was no history of domestic violence and Fragoulis would not trouble his former wife again.

Lead magistrate Alan Cottingham told the defendant, who now lives at Beaumont, near Carlisle: “You were found guilty during the trial of controlling behaviour. We have listened carefully to your solicitor and read the reports from the Probation Service.

“It does not make pleasant reading.

“Nobody should have to put up with what your ex-partner has to put up with… These really are very serious offences and they’re going to be dealt with in a serious way.”

Magistrates imposed 20 weeks jail, suspended for two years.

Fragoulis must complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and a Building Better Relationships Course. The court also imposed a two-year restraining order banning any contact with his ex-wife.

This includes a ban on him going to the street in Burgh-by-Sands where he formerly lived.

In the earlier hearing of the case, the defendant told magistrates: “It didn’t happen as it sounds. I never abused my wife. It’s a family matter… I have done absolutely nothing wrong.”

Nor did he ever give his wife a dog bed to sleep in as was suggested during that hearing, he said. Fragoulis added that he had run a business in Carlisle for 15 years but this now earned him “minimum wage”, in the region of £600 to £700 per month.