Bad Boyfriend Says: ‘I Think I Had to Go to Jail’

The woman tried to leave but was stopped by Bason, who “saw her leaving and followed her up the road, shouting and shouting at her to return to the flat”. The woman began filming his rant on her phone, after which he grabbed the phone and threw it on the ground, breaking it.

Bason, who has been convicted of assault and stalking in the past, pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage. He also admitted breaching a suspended drink-driving sentence, which he was given in January 2023.

Nicola Daly, defending, said: “When he spoke to the defendant this morning the first thing he said was ‘I think I should go to prison’ because he had started using cocaine in May and June this year and had started drinking, which led to the usual assault and criminal damage.

“While in custody he has not only completed a course that could help him obtain future work as a personal trainer, but he has also started taking medication to benefit his mental health. He tells me that he has become a fortified prisoner, meaning he has become a cleaner most of the day, which has helped him with his structure, his health and his fitness. It appears he has been proactively using the last four months.”

The judge, Mr Recorder McBride, said: “This is a domestic matter where you assaulted your partner causing bruising to her arms. Yes, there was an argument, and yes, you were under the influence, but that is no excuse. I heard how the argument continued the next day when you knocked on her door and made unfair accusations against her. Her father had to intervene. Yet you came back, annoying and insulting. Another argument took her phone and broke it.”

He said Bason had shown a “distasteful and distasteful course of conduct” and sentenced him to 25 weeks in prison. He also took out a restraining order banning him from contacting his former partner for five years.