PT assaulted girlfriend with steel baton leaving her 'black and blue'

14 May 2024 , 21:18

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Anthony Frost is pictured outside Warrington Magistrates' Court (Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

A violent personal trainer assaulted his seriously ill girlfriend with a steel baton in the dead of night.

Anthony Frost, 54, left Rhian Butler "black and blue" with bruises and in pain from head to toe. A court heard the fitness fanatic woke his partner by throwing water over her, then overturned her mattress before insisted she enter her mobile phone password so he could access her online bank account.

But when Miss Butler, who was "incredibly sleepy" due to medication she was taking for fibromyalgia, declined, Frost put a lighter in front of her face before striking her with the extendable steel baton. Due to her condition, the woman kept nodding off but Frost continued hitting her with the weapon. Frost pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm but, despite sentencing guidelines of up to two and a half years in jail, the personal trainer was handed a suspended sentence at Warrington Magistrates' Court.

Frost was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months after he expressed 'genuine remorse.' He was also ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitative activity and a 30-day Building Better Relationships programme. He was further ordered to pay £500 compensation to Miss Butler and issued with a two year restraining order.

Frost assaulted his seriously ill girlfriend with a steel baton (Anthony Frost/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

Sentencing Frost, District Judge Jack McGarva told him: "Miss Butler went through a horrible ordeal during this very nasty assault. This is a nasty case of domestic abuse committed in a domestic content and which is itself an aggravating factor. It was a prolonged incident involving use of a weapon. Your behaviour was demeaning to the victim. She must have been extremely frightened during the incident.

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"But there is genuine remorse, you have no convictions for 24 years and there has been a long delay in bringing the matter before the court which is nobody's fault. It was to your benefit because you have done nothing since then." Frost, who has 45 previous offences on his record, including burglary and a serious sexual offence, left Miss Butler "petrified" during the ordeal in August 2022, the court was told.

Michael O'Kane, prosecuting said: "The defendant came into her room and tried to wake her. He poured water on her and then tipped the mattress over so she fell on the ground. At that point he has also thrown more liquid on her. He put a lighter near her face. Using her hand she said the lighter was that close, indicating a few inches from her face. She was petrified when that took place. He leant over her when she was on the floor. She got back on the bed, cold and shaking from being wet.

"She says that she went to the toilet and went back to bed but he woke her again. The defendant was angry with her and he moved into the living room. The complainant was in and out of sleep as she has side effects from her illnesses and or medication It seems the defendant wanted access to her phone because hee wanted money transferred to him.

"She was struggling to make the phone open as the fingerprint was not working. Furthermore, she could not remember the password due to the state of stress she was in. She threw the phone down saying that she could not access it but the defendant struck her on multiple occasions with that extendable baton. She said every time she would nod off she would get hit again with the baton, She said she could not stay awake and was being repeatedly asked to unlock the phone. She says she was hit very hard and she was shocked and angry and upset.

The 54-year-old bully, from Cheshire, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm (Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

Frost hit Miss Butler 'very hard' in a shocking attack (Anthony Frost/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)

"She said she screamed and begged for him to stop but he reacted by hitting her again and he kept repeatedly asking her to open the phone. She said afterwards, she felt shaken and went back to bed. After the incident she said she was black and blue. She did not seek treatment. She made disclosures to her mother about what happened. The bruises lasted over a week. They were painful and aching for some time. In an interview she said she had pains from head to toe. She did not leave the house for a period. She did not want anyone to see the injuries.

"The victim was very vulnerable given the fact that she was unwell and suffering side effects on medication combined with the illnesses that she suffered. She was drifting in and out of sleep when this offence took place, unclothed and not in a position to protect herself." His lawyer Mark Evans said in mitigation: "Mr Frost is the first person to accept this offence is clearly inexcusable but there was a cocktail of pressures.

"He had financial issues, and debt. Mr Frost was working night shift and working in the day and going back with very little sleep in order to try and keep a roof over their heads It may be, and understandably, the complainant's condition became worse because of the extra stress. It was a heavy week. He had not slept properly for about three nights and he just lost it. He completely accepts that it is the worst thing he has ever done. He apologised for months after. He wishes he could turn back the clock . Unfortunately life does not work like that."

Kenny Parker