Wakefield man left girlfriend ‘limp and lifeless’ during attack, court told

A man kicked and punched his girlfriend in an attack so violent that she was left “limp and lifeless” on the pavement, a court has heard.

Benjamin Swindells kicked Sophie Conroy’s head “like a football” outside Tesco Express on Barnsley Road in Wakefield just after midnight on April 13, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Local resident Ricky Arckless, who called police, told the court he came outside after hearing a noise and saw Mr Swindells “towering over” Mrs Conroy, who was “cold”.

Mr Swindells, 29, of no fixed address, denies attempted murder.

Mr Arckless said he heard “a loud bang, like a thud, which is a bit strange to hear at that time of night”.

He said: “I looked over and saw her lying on the floor. He shouted at her and she was on the ground.”

Mr Arckless said he noticed Ms Conroy was not wearing a top and looked “lifeless” and covered in blood.

“He just stood there and kicked her repeatedly – ​​swinging, kicking, swinging, kicking, over and over again.”

He said he didn’t think she would survive the attack.

“He kept shouting at her to get up.”

The court was shown footage from the body-worn camera of a police officer who arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.

Mr Swindells was seen cradling her head between his legs, screaming and crying.

He shouted at Mrs Conroy, saying: “I would do anything to protect you, little girl”, and shouted at police that his “wife had been attacked”.

In a video statement played in court, Ms Conroy was seen with badly bruised eyes, an injured lip and bruising on the side of her head.

She said she had been in a relationship with Mr Swindells for more than a year, but he regularly smoked crack cocaine, which made him violent and paranoid.

Ms Conroy said they got on well before ‘everything went wrong for Pete Tong’ when he started using drugs.

“He started getting paranoid,” she said, adding that when he smoked crack, he “continued to change my passwords, blocking people who are male and even female, like my mother.

“I felt isolated, away from my family. He rang my phone every day because he smoked it every day. It was just every time he smoked that.”

The process continues.

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