9:19am Thursday 20th November 2008
By Katie Adams
A 26-YEAR-OLD man who cut off his girlfriend’s hair as she slept will not face trial on a charge of falsely imprisoning her.
Gavin Eyles, of Market Place, Chippenham, was to also face trial for actual bodily harm on 23-year-old Hannah Young at Swindon Crown Court this coming Monday.
Prosecutors told the court on Tuesday that despite it being a domestic violence case they would not be seeking a trial on the two charges, which were to be left on file instead.
Eyles pleaded guilty in July to one charge of actual bodily harm in connection with an incident on February 11 in which he cut off Miss Young’s hair.
Philip Warren, prosecuting, told the court that Miss Young had withdrawn her support for the case and had recently lost her mother, who had died suddenly.
He said they could issue Miss Young with a witness summons but they would be faced with the prospect of prosecuting a bereaved hostile witness.
Talking about the ABH charge which Eyles admitted, Mr Warren said: “He cut chunks of her hair off while she was asleep which he said in interview was something he did to deliberately hurt her.”
Judge Douglas Field said: “This is a domestic violence case. The female complainant for various reasons doesn’t want to co-operate.”
He said sometimes it was right to take a robust view with witness summons but on others it was correct to follow the advice of experienced counsel and not proceed.
The case was adjourned for a month so the probation service can compile a pre-sentence report.
Eyles, who did not attend the hearing, is on bail on condition he does not contact prosecution witnesses or go to Foreman Street, Calne, or the Leigh Delamere service station on the M4 near Chippenham.
He will be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday December 16.
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