Ethan Knight (Image: TikTok)
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A former boxer has been spared jail at Newport Crown Court after admitting he suffocated his girlfriend and violently attacked her during three separate incidents across the course of their relationship.
Ethan Knight, 24, of Lewis Street, Riverside, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to intentional suffocation and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to 108 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Knight subjected his then partner to a sustained pattern of physical abuse between May 2024 and May 2025 during a relationship lasting around 12 months, leaving her with multiple injuries and severe psychological harm.
Victim’s words
Reading her own victim personal statement to the court, the victim described the devastating toll Knight’s violence had taken on every part of her life.
She said: “I stayed in that relationship because he showed me small acts of kindness, just enough to make me think things could be better. He tried to downplay the attacks and said ‘I kicked your head like a football, you were snoring for ages’. I developed anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
“I was hospitalised from an overdose and self harming, my mental health was not good. I lived in fight or flight mode and experienced disassociation. Every part of my life has been affected, my family life, education, home, and expenses. I lost all sense of self worth…. My family have witnessed things they should never had to see, bruises and cuts caused by the man I loved.
“I had to change locks of the doors in my home multiple times. I made a Clare’s Law request as I was frightened of what he would do to me. I suffer from daily flashbacks of him using household objects to hurt me. I have vivid nightmares where I struggle to breathe and worry about being safe.”
She told the court that Knight had blamed her for him not being able to live a lavish lifestyle – something she said he had become obsessed with – which led to him accumulating debts.
She added: “I shared a bed for two years with someone who would have killed me. I’ll never forget how helpless I felt, being unable to breathe and exhausted by his actions towards me. When I didn’t meet his expectations or challenged him the abuse would get worse. As my partner he should have protected me but now I need protection from him.”
The suffocation
The most serious of the three offences took place on May 29, 2025, after the couple had been drinking at the Bush Inn in Llantwit Fardre before returning to the victim’s home in Church Village.
Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir told the court the pair had argued about previous partners, and Knight flew into a rage when the victim refused to unlock her phone after she had gone to bed.
He placed his right hand over her nose and mouth and squeezed tightly in an attempt to suffocate her. Each time she wriggled to try to breathe, he closed the gap to cut off her air supply.
Knight then dragged her by her hair to the toilet. She managed to grab her phone and dial the police, but he snatched it from her and ended the call. He then appeared to “snap out of his rage” and asked “What have you done?” before leaving in his car.
The victim was left with reddening to her nose and mouth.
Earlier attacks
The first assault occurred on May 18, 2024, at a caravan park in Weymouth, Dorset. Knight punched the victim in the face and kicked her on the floor until she lost consciousness.
A second attack took place on July 19, 2024, while the couple were staying at a B&B in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. An argument had broken out over Knight speaking to a girl on Snapchat. When the victim attempted to call the girl, he responded by punching and kicking her repeatedly, seizing her phone and ending the call before running off. She was left with a black eye.
The couple separated following that incident before later reconciling.
Sentencing
Sentencing Knight, Judge Eugene Egan said: “You somewhat appallingly believed you were playing the hard man as you beat someone who was physically smaller than you. Decent men don’t treat female partners in the way you treat them.”
Defence barrister Alice Sykes said in mitigation that her client had found it difficult to come to terms with his actions but was now doing so and had expressed remorse. The court heard Knight had already spent 296 days in custody on remand.
Alongside the suspended sentence, Knight was made subject to a mental health requirement of eight to 12 sessions, the Building Better Choices programme for 26 sessions, a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days, and a restraining order for five years.
He has one previous conviction for driving offences.
