Merthyr man jailed for strangling partner and pouring Coke over her

A violent and controlling partner who strangled his girlfriend until she blacked out, then poured a two-litre bottle of Coca Cola over her when she woke up, has been jailed.

Ryan McCarthy, 41, began a relationship with his victim in 2022, and she moved in with him after falling pregnant – but she tragically suffered a miscarriage. Soon after, the abuse began.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how McCarthy became “horrible” towards her, with the violence escalating throughout their relationship. In April 2022, during an argument, he dragged her across the floor to the front door, straddled her, pinned her down and grabbed her face whilst threatening to “gouge her eyes out”. She covered her head and cried as he loomed over her.

The abuse intensified that summer when McCarthy “went mad” after seeing a Snapchat post his partner had shared captioned “on my own again” after he’d gone to bed. When she threatened to call police, the Merthyr Tydfil man tried to grab her phone and “threw her round the bedroom like a ragdoll”.

Prosecutor Laurence Jones told the court McCarthy threw her into walls and onto the bed before gripping her throat with both hands and squeezing her neck until she couldn’t breathe. She lost consciousness – and when she came round, he emptied a two-litre bottle of Coca Cola over her.

She managed to get outside, but he dragged her back in and locked the door. He kept her prisoner in the house, grabbing her tightly and “cwtching her” to prevent her escape. Left feeling “drained and exhausted”, she told him she’d stay in the relationship just so he would let her leave. She later said she “feared for her life”.

In May 2023, she discovered she was pregnant again. McCarthy’s response was to hit her on the floor, kick her body, pull her hair and drag her around “like a dog”. When she told him about the pregnancy, he went “ballistic” and said he didn’t want the baby. She told him she was keeping the child – he screamed at her.

After their daughter was born, the violence continued. During one incident, McCarthy chased her out of the bedroom and when she fell to the floor, he placed his hand on her throat. She emailed police about it, but when officers arrived she was too terrified to report him because of what he might do.

The couple eventually split up, but continued to see each other so McCarthy could visit his daughter.

On 7 September last year, she’d put their baby daughter in her car to visit a friend when McCarthy turned up in his vehicle and pulled alongside her. He got out and shouted: “Get on Tinder you slag.” She told him to go away and tried to close her car door, but he grabbed her by the face and forcefully shut the door on her right leg.

McCarthy then tried to take the sleeping child out of the car. When the victim got out to stop him and attempted to get back in, he grabbed her and threw her onto the road, causing injuries to her elbows and wrist.

She knocked on a neighbour’s door for help, but McCarthy grabbed her from behind and threw her into the passenger seat before grabbing her head and pushing it into the console whilst shouting at her. He tried again to take the child, but a neighbour intervened and the victim begged her to call the police.

Eventually the neighbour was able to drive off and took the victim to a friend’s house nearby where she called police. McCarthy was arrested and either denied the offences or claimed he couldn’t remember them.

McCarthy, of Market Street, Dowlais, later pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation, controlling/coercive behaviour and assault by beating. The court heard he has 10 previous convictions including battery and criminal damage committed against a former partner.

Defence barrister Kirsten Murphy said her client is remorseful and knows he needs to address his behaviour. She told the court McCarthy has a successful tyre business and is responsible for seven employees. He’d struggled with substance misuse, using alcohol and drugs to cope with bereavements and trauma, but is now abstinent.

Sentencing McCarthy, Judge Paul Hopkins said the way the defendant had treated the victim was “simply appalling”.

The judge added: “She spoke about you dragging her like a dog but very few people would treat a dog the way you treated her. Men who use domestic violence against a woman at this level can only expect an immediate custodial sentence.”

McCarthy was sentenced to two years imprisonment and was made subject to a restraining order for six years.