Wednesday 12 August 2009

Girlfriend KO's Punch Drunk Charge



One half of a warring Northamptonshire couple – accused of punching his girlfriend in the face and body – walked free from court after the alleged victim played down the attack.

Thomas Ian Curtis Dilley, 22, of Valley Road, Brackley was visiting long-time girlfriend Rebecca Elson, 23, a BA History student at London’s King’s College when the drunken row erupted.

He was cleared of assaulting Miss Elson on April 18 at Page Street, Pimlico, by JP’s at City of London Magistrates Court (pictured).

The court was told a row erupted over Dilley’s drinking and the defendant pushed Miss Elson to the floor and punched her in the face and body.

Police and an ambulance were called and photo’s taken of her injury.

However, Miss Elson told the JP’s: “A nosey neighbour put her nose in where it was not wanted. I did not need an ambulance and the paramedics said I was fine. I told the police it was a waste of time.”

Dilley splits his time between his parents home and Miss Elson’s student flat and turned up drunk that afternoon.

“I heard bottles clinking and knew he had been drinking,” she told the court.

“There was an empty vodka bottle in the bin and he was clearly drunk. I was very angry and threw the vodka bottle at his head and it hit him on the back of the head because he was looking me in the eye and lying to me.

“I walked into the bedroom and he shoved me from behind onto the bed and punched me in the eye. It was one punch. I think anybody would have done the same if they had a bottle thrown at them.”

Miss Elson insisted she was not assaulted despite giving a statement to police three days after the attack and claimed she had not been persuaded to give favourable evidence.

5 comments:

Rebecca Elson said...

excuse me, but I was the victim in this case and I object to this article's presence online, especially as it gives incredibly personal details including medical conditions, a miscarriage I suffered and my full address!

Rebecca Elson said...

You know I wouldn't even mind so much if you were posting accurate information but half of your information is wrong. take this article down now please. seriously, how dare you post my address, university and medical conditions as well as the fact that I have lost a child on your blog. Where are you getting your inaccurate information and who the hell do you think you are??????? This was one of the most difficult times of my personal life and you think you can write about it on the internet? seriously.

Editor said...

I agree with you that exact addresses should not have been published and I have made the necessary corrections.
Most news sites would not agree to your other requests because all the information is a matter of public record, but I have decided as a humanitarian gesture to edit certain sensitive facts.

Rebecca Elson said...

You do realise that information like this, no matter how out of date it is, could cost me jobs? It's hard enough in this economy to find work and you still identify me closely enough, listing my age, street, course and university for potential employers (not to mention violent ex boyfriends) to link this incident to myself rather than any of the other Rebecca Elsons out there. Giving my street is still too much, especially now that I have expressed my discomfort at this articles' presence - you could simply not identify me in any way. What you say about the information being in the public domain is only half right - people would have to go seeking through court records to find this information. You have made it available to anyone who can use Google.
I also take this opportunity to state once again that there are several factual errors in your blog, in fact almost every sentence contains a factual error regarding this case.
If you agree that the full address should not have been published then why has it taken you two and half years to remove it? Have you considered the possible repercussions of putting sensitive information online in such a fashion, without the consent, or even knowledge of the persons involved?

Rebecca Elson said...

Publishing personal data on the Internet without the necessary protections is a breach of the Data Protection Act. This is because the eighth data protection principle prevents personal data from being transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area unless an adequate level of protection is provided. Publishing personal data on the Internet makes it accessible world wide and is therefore an international transfer of personal data.
Do I need to continue to express my extreme discomfort at this article?