Mother-of-three is convicted of domestic violence after grabbing boyfriend’s arm in ‘ghosting’ row

A mother of three who grabbed her boyfriend’s arm during an emotionally charged fight over him “ghosting” her has been convicted of domestic violence.

Stacey Beech, 43, was arrested by police after grabbing Aaron Parr’s wrist when he tried to walk away from her during a face-to-face meeting about why he wanted to end their eight-month relationship.

Although Parr was not injured in the incident at a house he shares with his parents in the Cheshire village of Ledsham, Beech was arrested on allegations of using ‘unlawful force’ against him.

In the April 6 incident, she was also accused of trying to push away Mr Parr’s mother, Valerie, who had placed a tree branch between the couple to keep them apart as they argued in the driveway. .

Leading up to the queue, Beech was found to have received “mixed messages” from Mr. Parr, including a three-hour video call and texts that read, “Thank you for dropping me off.”

At Chester magistrates’ court, Beech, who has no previous convictions, wept when JPs criticized a decision to charge her for common assault.

She was released on parole for 12 months, with the bank turning down a request to have her pay compensation to Mr Parr and waiving prosecution costs of £300.

The bill to take the case to court is now paid by the taxpayer.

Chairman Robin Bradshaw told Beech: “It’s always a shame when someone your age goes to court with no previous convictions. It is obvious that you are aware that today you have lost your good character.

“I will openly say that we are very surprised that it has come to court, given the other domestic violence cases that we have seen. That’s why we’re giving you conditional discharge.

‘If you don’t commit any more criminal offenses in the next 12 months, you won’t hear anything about it. There is in this case no court order for costs due to the background, no court order for damages and no restraining order.’

Beech, from Llay, Wrexham, was originally going to stand trial for assaults on both Mr Parr and his mother.

However, after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges against the mother, Beech agreed to plead guilty to assaulting the son.

Michael O’Kane, the prosecutor, said, “Aaron, the victim, is the defendant’s previous partner. They were in a relationship for about eight months and this incident happened on April 6.

In his statement, the victim says he broke off the relationship a week before the incident. He said the defendant was upset and cried a lot, but there was no indication she would try to locate him.

‘The victim was at the gym on the night in question and received a few text messages from the suspect. He said he saw Stacey’s car coming the other way from his house he shares with his parents. He said she slammed on the brakes and backed up to follow him to his driveway of the property.

‘The complainant got out of the car and told the defendant to go home, that he would see her later. She seemed upset and didn’t want to listen to him. She said, “Get in the car. Give me 5 minutes to talk to you.”

‘Mr Parr told the defendant to leave, he didn’t want to talk to her.

“The victim’s mother and brother heard the commotion outside. The mother and father saw the lights of two cars in the driveway and went outside to see what was going on.

“The victim’s mother walked down the driveway to where it happened and told the defendant to leave the premises, but the defendant refused to leave.

“Then the defendant grabbed Mr Parr’s arm and tried to pull him toward him. At that moment, Valerie, the victim’s mother, pulls down a branch of a tree and puts it between them, trying to separate them, it seems.

“The defendant eventually agreed to leave and return to her vehicle and leave the crime scene.

“At that time agents were called and the defendant was later detained in connection with these cases.”

Mr O’Kane said Beech claimed during a police interrogation that she only held Mr Parr’s hand and that it was by mutual consent, but added: “She now accepts that it amounts to unlawful violence and that it amounts to an attack.

‘The Public Prosecution Service admits that it was at the lower end of the scale. To her credit, the defendant has no previous convictions. I spoke to Mr Parr regarding a restraining order. He said there has been no contact since the incident and he hopes this will be the end. There is therefore no request for a restraining order.

‘The Public Prosecution Service agrees with the complainant in this incident. Perhaps it is unusual in a domestic violence case that a restraining order is not necessary. Mr Parr has caused suffering. Several members of the family were present.’

To extenuate, Beech’s attorney Becky Hay said: “The couple had been together for eight months and it looks like it was the longest relationship Parr has been in and things seemed to be going well.

“She’s been in two previous relationships and is a full-time working mom, so when he lightly said he wanted to end the relationship, she took it very seriously, while he reacted in a childish way.

“I have seen a number of text messages between parties and there are many mixed messages. Miss Beech worried that he would be lighthearted about things, so she wanted to talk to him like adults and asked, “Is this relationship going anywhere or are we done?”

“Unfortunately, other parties joined and it escalated. She accepts that she grabs his wrist to pull it back, only to say, “Please just come and talk to me,” but that’s the extent of the attack. There was no injury.

“To be fair to Mr. Parr, he doesn’t describe in his statement that he was upset or sad, but was frustrated that Stacey went to his address and that everything went as it was. He doesn’t blame Miss Beech and he was clearly not overly excited.

“You’ve heard the statement suggest that Miss Beech didn’t know where he lived, but I have reports to show that’s completely false. Reports show that she dropped him off at home several times.

“This is a sad set of circumstances. She is a full time working mom who has never been in trouble and is in this situation which she says was stressful and emotionally draining. She wants to draw a line under the situation and move on.’