Thug who strangled his pregnant girlfriend is labelled a 'coward' by Crown Court judge

A thug from Ashton has been jailed after strangling his pregnant girlfriend and throwing a bottle of tomato sauce at her.

Twenty-three-year-old Samuel Barlow, 23, of Welbeck Street South, Ashton-under-Lyne, was jailed for 14 months at Mold Crown Court, in North Wales.

He had already pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damage to property, and was convicted after trial of a charge of intentional strangulation.

Barlow and Megan Shearsmith had been together for 12 months when they had a row on May 24, last year.

He pinned Ms Shearsmith against a wall, and placed his hands around her neck causing her to fall to the floor gasping for breath.

On July 17, 2023, Barlow threw a bottle of ketchup, covering a carpet and Ms Shearsmith’s clothes in the sauce, and also damaged her television.

Laura Knightly, defending, said Barlow had “conceded his actions were unacceptable”.

She said: "He has accepted his own issues did not justify placing his hand around Ms Shearsmith’s neck.”

Ms Knightly said Barlow is a “young man who has issues” and who “presents with gaps in his maturation”.

Judge Rhys Rowlands also imposed a five-year restraining order, preventing Barlow from contacting Ms Shearsmith and said he had subjected her to a "terrifying ordeal" and condemned him as a "coward".

He told the thug: “I had hoped you might have shown some insight, and accepted what you did. You haven’t.

“That doesn’t bode well for your rehabilitation, from where I’m sitting.

“It just shows what a coward you are when you were telling her she was pathetic.

“It's not her who’s pathetic. What’s pathetic is a man prepared to bully a woman as you did on this occasion. This is not normal behaviour.

“You seem to be blaming anyone and everyone apart from yourself.”