Andrew Stockman, 54, flew into a rage after the pair had flown to Spain on holiday – and threw wife Sandra out of their sunshine holiday apartment for two days without her passport
A violent husband has been jailed after abusing his wife while on holiday in Benidorm.
Andrew Stockman, 54, threw his wife Sandra out of their holiday apartment for two days after flying into a rage in the popular resort town. A court heard how the trip, which took place over Christmas last year, was planned to be a much-needed getaway for the couple, who had been together since they were 16 years old.
However, the bust-up became the last straw for Sandra after suffering an “appalling history of abuse”, the judge said. Prosecutor Richard Edwards said their marriage problems came to a head when they went to Spain over Christmas in 2024.
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The court heard Mrs Stockman had been looking after a friend who died while they were away. She had told Stockman the lady was ill – but he wouldn’t let her fly home to see her, reports Wales Online.
She tried to make arrangements for the funeral – his behaviour “was horrendous” and he threw her out without a passport. Mr Edwards said: “She was wandering around Benidorm with nowhere to go and had to sneak back into her apartment to get her passport, so she could fly home.”
He added it was two or three days before he asked where she was – and then when Stockman got back, he accepted the relationship was over. He added: “Over the years, she has been kicked, punched, strangled numerous times and has lost count of the times he has given her a black eye.”
Caernarfon Crown Court heard the couple – who ran a BnB – are now going through a divorce. Mr Edwards said the pair had been married for more than 30 years and have two adult children together.
Most of the incidents happened when Stockman was under the influence of alcohol and physical abuse would happen “every month”. During the last four years together, they bought a B&B which they ran and she said the physical abuse seemed to stop, but the mental and verbal abuse continued.
In a victim impact statement Ms Stockman said Stockman had given her a “lifetime of anguish”. She now realised his actions weren’t love, but control of her and the boys.
“I feel like Andrew deprived me of a normal adult life as up until the moment he was arrested, I have never been able to make decisions for the benefit of myself or make my own choices,” she said. “I feel angry that I have lost years, because he made me believe that being hit, feeling worthless and emotionally blackmailed, was normal.”
Ms Stockman said she spent the whole relationship “walking a tightrope”, which had made her an “emotional wreck”. Stockman, of Llay, North Wales, admitted coercive and controlling behaviour.
Sentencing Stockman to three years and five months, Judge Timothy Petts said: “Your abuse took the form of frequent physical attacks as well as verbal and emotional abuse. On many occasions you would threaten to kill her or kill yourself,” said Judge Petts in what he said was “an appalling history of abuse”.