Swansea Man Jailed for ‘Hostage Situation’ Kitchen Attack

A Swansea man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after subjecting his former partner to a series of violent assaults, including throwing her across a kitchen floor and declaring it a “hostage situation” 😠

Ian Price, 44, of Islwyn Road, Mayhill, appeared at Swansea Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of criminal damage following attacks on his ex-partner during their two-year “volatile” relationship.

The court heard how in July 2023, Price grabbed his partner by the neck and pushed her into a dishwasher at her Swansea home, causing her to briefly lose consciousness. When the woman came to, the defendant threw her across the floor and into the fridge. As she tried to get up, Price jumped on top of her and pinned her down, telling her it was a “hostage situation”.

A second assault occurred in November 2024 after the couple had been drinking at Noah’s Yard bar in Uplands. After his partner revealed she had cheated on him, Price became “enraged” when he found messages on her phone about attending a festival with another man. He pushed her off a bar stool, causing her to strike a granite worktop, before head-butting the fridge and threatening to burn the house down.

The following morning brought a third attack when Price told his partner he was “in control” before slapping her and threatening to give her a black eye. He also threw a TV remote at her and during a car journey told her she should “count herself lucky that she got off so lightly”.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she no longer recognised herself in the mirror and that Price’s “abusive, violent and controlling behaviour” had left her “emotionally and physically drained and suffering with anxiety and flashbacks”. She added that her “old life” before meeting Price was gone and she didn’t think she would ever get it back.

Recorder Christopher Felstead said Price had been in a “volatile relationship” with the complainant during which he “asserted control” over her and had called her “foul and disgusting names”. Price, who has nine previous convictions for 18 offences, will serve up to half his sentence in custody before being released on licence. He was also made subject to an indefinite restraining order banning him from contacting his ex.