Isle of Wight man jailed for hitting wife with a meat cleaver

A man from the Isle of Wight has been jailed after he hit his wife over the head with a meat cleaver on Christmas Eve last year, causing her a serious head injury.

Jonathan Eldridge, aged 42, was jailed for nine years today (1 September 2022) at Winchester Crown Court.

After a trial earlier this year, jurors unanimously found him guilty of attacking his wife, who is registered as blind, having returned home to find his TV and Xbox had been pulled off a shelf.

He had consumed somewhere in the region of eight or ten pints before coming home, and then completely lost his temper at finding the electrical items on the floor. Eldridge retrieved a meat cleaver from the kitchen and brutally attacked his wife with it, before calling an ambulance.

Samantha Lawrence, CPS Wessex Senior Crown Prosecutor, said: “Jonathan Eldridge was also his wife’s carer and ultimately someone that she should have been able to trust to look after her and keep her safe from harm.

“Working in partnership with the police to build a strong case, we used witness statements, medical and forensic evidence to prove that he intended to cause his wife serious injury when he attacked her.”

Suzanne Llewellyn, CPS Wessex Chief Crown Prosecutor, added: “The prosecution of perpetrators of domestic abuse is one of our priorities and it is our aim to secure justice in every possible case.

“We have a dedicated and skilled prosecution team who are ready to prosecute domestic abuse cases whenever our legal test is met.”