A WREXHAM man who attacked his former partner over the contents of her phone has been fined.

Joshua Barrow, of Y Wern, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court for sentence on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old had previously admitted one offence of assault by beating.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson told the court that the victim Chloe Rogers, had previously been in a relationship with Barrow.

It was good at first and he was kind to her, the court heard.

But by April last year, issues had begun to arise.

Ms Jackson said the defendant would regularly go through the victim's phone to see if she was messaging people, and if she didn't hand over the phone he would take it.

On December 3 last year, Ms Rogers got home from a night out and noticed she had numerous missed calls from the defendant.

She agreed to stay at his home that evening to comfort him as he was crying down the phone to her.

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The following morning, she awoke at the defendant's home and went to use the bathroom.

Barrow used that opportunity to access her phone.

When she returned, he asked her: "Are you serious?" and began crying.

He refused to give the phone back to her, despite Ms Rogers telling him she needed to go to work.

He told her she was not allowed to leave.

Eventually, he allowed her to call her mother, but he kept hold of her wrist while she made the call - leaving red marks.

When Ms Rogers snatched the phone back, Barrow pushed her onto the bed and got on top of her, putting pressure on her neck.

Ms Rogers made a statement to the police, but subsequently requested that it be withdrawn
She confirmed she had not been coerced to make the request, but wanted to get on with her life.

Ms Rogers confirmed she and the defendant "brought out the worst in each other."

When interviewed by police, Barrow said he was going to ask the victim to be his girlfriend again, but admitted he saw photos on the phone which he didn't like and became upset.

He described the events which followed as a "tussle," adding he'd removed his arm from the victim's throat immediately.

A probation officer told the court: "Mr Barrow said he and Chloe had been on a break for a while and they both wanted to reconcile at various points.

"It was agreed Chloe would come to his house to talk about reconciling and they did speak.

The Leader:

"From his point of view, he was under the impression they'd decided to give it a go.

"He looked at her phone because he had thoughts that she may have been messaging other males when they were on a break.

"He admitted they were both insecure in that relationship and would both check each other's phones.

"It seems to be a generational thing where young people think it's acceptable to go into each other's phones and check what the other has been doing.

"He deeply regrets the harm he's caused her and doesn't condone domestic abuse in relationships."

Defending himself at the hearing, Barrow said: "I really don't know why it happened - it's the first time it happened.

"It's not like me to do that. I'm not a bad person. When the situation happened, I think we were being immature.

"I've sorted myself out a lot; I've got my own place and work.

"I didn't mean to hurt Chloe."

The Magistrates handed down a £400 fine for the offence and ordered the defendant to pay £85 costs, as well as a £160 victim surcharge.