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 argument over him ‘ghosting’ her has been convicted of domestic violence.

Stacey Beech, 43, was detained by police after she took hold of Aaron Parr’s wrist as he tried to walk away from her during a face-to-face meeting over why he wanted to end their eight month relationship.

Although Mr Parr was not hurt in the incident at a house he shares with his parents in the village of Ledsham in Cheshire, Beech was apprehended as it was claimed she had used ‘unlawful force’ against him.

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

It emerged in the run up to the row Beech had been getting ‘mixed messages’ from Mr Parr including a three-hour-long video call and texts saying: ‘Thanks for dropping me off hun’.

At Chester magistrates court Beech, who has no previous convictions, wept as JPs criticised a decision to prosecute her for common assault. 

She was conditionally discharged for 12 months with the bench refusing a request to make her pay compensation to Mr Parr and waiving prosecution costs of £300. 

The bill for bringing the matter to court will now be paid by the taxpayer. 

Although Mr Parr was not hurt in the incident at a house he shares with his parents in the village of Ledsham in Cheshire, Beech was apprehended as it was claimed she had used ‘unlawful force’ against him

Chairman Robin Bradshaw told Beech: ‘It is always a shame when someone of your age comes before the court with no previous convictions. Obviously, you are aware that you lost your good character today.

‘I will say openly, we are very surprised that it has come to court in view of the other cases of domestic violence that we have seen. Because of that we’re going to give you a conditional discharge.

‘If you do not commit any further offences in the next 12 months you will hear no more of this. There’s no order for costs due to the background in this case, no order for compensation and no restraining order.’

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

However, after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charge against the mother, Beech agreed to plead guilty to the assault on the son.

Michael O’Kane, prosecuting, said: ‘Aaron, the victim, is the previous partner to the defendant. They were in a relationship for about eight months and this incident took place on April the 6th.

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

‘On the night in question the victim was at the gym and received some texts from the defendant. He said he saw Stacey’s car coming the other way from his house which he shares with his parents. He said she slammed on the brakes and reversed to follow him into his driveway of the property. 

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

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

‘Mr Parr told the defendant to leave, he did not want to speak with her.

‘The victim’s mother and brother heard the commotion outside. The mother and father saw two cars’ lights on the drive-way and went out to see what was taking place. 

‘The victim’s mother walked down the drive to where it was taking place and she told the defendant to leave the property but the defendant refused to leave.

‘The defendant then took hold of Mr Parr’s arm attempting to pull him towards her. At that point Valerie, the victim’s mother, pulls down a branch from a tree and puts it between them, trying to separate them it would seem.

‘The defendant did eventually agree to leave and return to her vehicle and left the scene.

‘At that point officers were called and the defendant was later apprehended in relation to these matters.’

Mr O’Kane said that in a police interview, Beech claimed she had only had a hold of Mr Parr’s hand and that it was consensual but he added: ‘She now accepts that it amounts to unlawful force and that it amounts to an assault.

‘The prosecution do concede that it was a lower end of the scale. The defendant, to her credit, has no previous convictions. I’ve spoken to Mr Parr in relation to a restraining order. He said there has been no contact since the incident and he is hopeful that this will be the end of it. Therefore there is no request for a restraining order.

It emerged in the run up to the row Beech had been getting ‘mixed messages’ from Mr Parr including a three-hour-long video call and texts saying: ‘Thanks for dropping me off hun’

At Chester magistrates court Beech, who has no previous convictions, wept as JPs criticised a decision to prosecute her for common assault

‘The prosecution agrees with the complainant in this incident. Perhaps it is unusual in a domestic assault that a restraining order is not necessary. There was distress caused to Mr Parr. Multiple members of the family were there.’

In mitigation Beech’s lawyer Becky Hay said: ‘The couple had been together for a period of eight months and it would appear it was the longest relationship that Mr Parr has been in and it was apparently going well.

‘She has had two previous relationships and is a full-time working mother so when he flippantly stated that he wanted to end the relationship she took it very seriously whilst he reacted in a childish way.

‘I’ve seen a number of text messages between the parties and there are a lot of mixed messages. Miss Beech was concerned about him being flippant about things so she wanted to speak with him like grown-ups and asking: “Is this relationship going anywhere or are we done?”

‘Unfortunately, other parties got involved and things escalated. She accepts grabbing his wrist to pull him back just to say, “Please just come and speak with me” but that is the extent of the assault. There was no injury.

‘To be fair to Mr Parr, in his statement, he does not describe being upset or distressed but being frustrated that Stacey went to his address and that everything ended up like it did. He doesn’t blame Miss Beech and he was clearly not overly affected.

‘You have heard it was suggested in the statement that Miss Beech did not know where he lived but I’ve got messages to show that is entirely incorrect. There are messages showing that she has dropped him off at home on multiple occasions.

‘This is a sad set of circumstances. She is a working full-time mum who has never been in trouble before and finds herself in this situation, which she says has been stressful and emotionally draining. She wants to draw a line under the situation and move forward.’