A ‘MONSTER’ told his wife “I’m going to do jail time for this” before he strangled her with a belt from his dressing gown in a drunken attack.

Andrew Simson appeared at Merthyr Crown Court on Monday following the attack at the couple’s home in Wyllie in Caerphilly on November 13 last year.

Simson had denied a charge of attempted murder, but admitted attempting to cause GBH with intent.

The court heard Simson had just returned to living at the flat days earlier – after a community order for a similar attack in October 2020 expired on November 8.

“The defendant went into Blackwood and shoplifted two bottles of wine,” prosecutor Rachel Knight said, adding that he drunk one of those bottles on the way home.

His wife told him he “let us down” with his drinking, and “she said he could be a monster with his drinking,” Ms Knight said.

“He removed his dressing gown belt and used it as a weapon.

“He said ‘I’m going to do jail time for this’,” before strangling her with it.

“She described that her head felt like it was going to explode.”

Simson released her, the court heard, and a short time later, she was able to get to a neighbour and the police were called.

Police bodycam footage was shown in court where Simson was waiting outside their home and told officers: “I tried to strangle my wife to death”.

  • If you’re experiencing domestic abuse, you can call 101 if you need support or advice from the police and it's not an emergency. You can also find out more information about the support available here.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mrs Simson said she was having panic attacks.

“I don’t know why, it’s probably to do with the incident,” she said.

“I could not sleep. It progressively got worse. I’d go nights without sleep. It was pre-existing, but it got worse since the incident.

“I hope he gets the help he needs.

“He is a sweetheart but he needs help with his drinking. He has hit rock bottom.”

“It’s difficult to argue with the facts of this case and the facts of the other case,” said Jeffrey Jones, defending.

He said that Simson had “aspirations to be alcohol free”, and had completed an alcohol awareness course and an anger management course while in prison.

“This is a case where the defendant brought the offence to an end himself. He saw what he was doing and said to himself ‘What am I doing?’, and then brought it to an end.”

Mr Jones said the defendant had to retire from nursing after a double brain aneurysm in 2019, and having also lost his dad soon after, suffered with anxiety and depression.

“They all played a part in him drinking too much,” he said.

“He is sorry to the court and to [his wife].”

“If he drinks in a domestic circumstance then he is dangerous,” said Judge Richard Twomlow. “It seems to me that there is a serious risk of harm to members of the public, especially in a domestic setting.”

Judge Twomlow sentenced Simson to 10 years – five years and eight months of which would be in prison, with a further four years and four months on extended licence.

He also made Simson the subject of an indefinite restraining order prohibiting any contact with his victim – aside from through solicitors to allow for their divorce.