THE DEVASTATING impact on a Carlisle wife of her husband’s controlling behaviour during more than a decade of marriage was spelled out at the city’s crown court.

John Nicholson’s prolonged mistreatment of his terrified wife left her feeling “broken and worthless,” prosecutor Tim Evans told the judge.

The barrister was reading from the woman’s victim impact statement, prepared after a Carlisle Crown Court jury convicted the 59-year-old defendant of subjecting her to controlling and coercive behaviour.

He was also convicted of an actual bodily harm assault on a former partner who tried to warn Nicholson’s wife about his controlling nature. He denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Evans described both offences.

The assault happened at Brampton in July 2009 after Nicholson arrived at his former partner’s house, furious that she had spoken to his wife about the way he had behaved in their relationship.

Holding a key in his hand, the defended simply walked into the woman’s home and began “raining punches on to her,” the court heard.

The key caused a “significant” wound to the woman’s face, causing it to bleed and leaving a scar.

Outlining the controlling behaviour of his wife, Mr Evans said it continued from 2009 until 2021 and had multiple facets. During arguments, he would sit “cracking his knuckles,” becoming more and more angry.

He verbally abused her, calling her unpleasant names; he told her she could not have an overnight stay as part of her union work training; and he would belittle her by referring to her mental health issues in a degrading way.

Reading from the woman’s impact statement, Mr Evans said: “She spoke of feeling broken and worthless; she felt belittled and ridiculed by him.”

Mr Evans summarised the woman’s feelings after the police investigation began – thanks to an alert police officer who spoke to the woman during a neighbour dispute.

“She felt terrified about what would happen if the investigation was dropped; her fear was that he would come back and take some sort of revenge," said Mr Evans.

“She talked about how she felt after talking to the police, sitting for hours staring at the TV, crying and trembling, and scared to go out of the house, and always feeling that he, the defendant, was watching her.”

She had to learn how to function again as a mother, a daughter and a sister, saying: “Twelve years of abuse and control are not going to disappear overnight.” With Nicholson gone, her home felt safe and calm.

But she was constantly looking over her shoulder and regretted the years she spent with Nicholson.

Kim Whittlestone, for Nicholson, said he suffered from arthritis in his spine and was terrified on going to prison.

Judge Nicholas Barker said the case illustrated the precise kind of controlling behaviour that the offence was created to deal with. He  noted that the defendant was controlling in the relationship with the woman he assaulted, turning up at her workplace and making he feel she was “under surveillance.”

Referring to his wife, the judge said: “In essence, she describes a relationship in which you abused her physically, emotionally and verbally; you manipulated her and sought to control her."

In one incident, as she tried to leave their house while holding a key, he squeezed her hand so hard that he drew blood. He had constantly belittled her and undermined her social life.

“You controlled and completely dominated this woman to such an extent that her mental health collapsed,” said the judge, and that was why this offence was so serious.

But, by pursuing the prosecution, his former wife had herself taken back control, said the judge, which Nicholson, of  Loanwath Road in Dumfries, could not accept.

Concluding that there was no prospect of rehabilitation, Judge Barker jailed the defendant for 30 months. A ten-year restraining order bans any contact with his former wife.