Mother-of-three's shocking injuries after husband she met on Plenty of Fish dating website beat her unconscious and tied her up for watching Britain's Got Talent
Suzanne Hill from Eccles, Greater Manchester married David Jennison after meeting him on the Plenty of Fish dating website in 2015 following a whirlwind romance.
Jennison, who had prior convictions for violence against women, was jailed for three years and three months by Manchester Crown Court. He also faces a further three years on extended licence upon his release from jail.
Suzanne Hill, left, was brutally assaulted by her new husband David Jennison, leaving her with extensive injuries that required hospitalisation, right
In June last year, Jennison launched a brutal, sudden attack on his wife, following what Manchester Crown Court heard was a petty row over her choice of TV program.
Jennison headbutted, choked and rained punches on Ms Hill, knocking her out cold before tying her up with electrical flex, bundling her into a sleeping bag, and leaving her in her blood-streaked hallway for her son to find.
Ms Hill spent five days recovering in hospital, unable to open her eyes because they were so swollen.
Now Jennison, 52, has been classed as a 'dangerous' offender and given an extended jail sentence.
Following the case, Ms Hill has released images which graphically illustrate her ordeal to raise awareness of the realities of domestic violence.
Ms Hill said she was attacked after Jennison had returned home from work.
She said: 'I was sat having my tea, it was a warm night and the windows were open, she said.
'Everything seemed fine. He was a HGV driver so he had been up since 4am that day.
'I was watching Britain's Got Talent and he came in and said "I'm not watching that s***". I said "what's the problem?"
'He took the dog out for a walk and I thought that was the end of it. My son lives next door and he spoke with him for a bit.
'He was obviously in a mood and at 9pm he went upstairs and he muttered something I didn't hear. I thought I might as well go to bed too.
'In bed I was giggling a bit because we had our backs turned to each other.I said something and he just turned around and put his fist to me.'
Shaken by the gesture, Ms Hill packed a bag for her husband and threw it downstairs.
'He slowly pulled the bed cover back and I thought he was going to hug me, but he gave me the biggest headbutt.'
In court, Jennison claimed that this was a 'clash of heads'.
'Then as fast as he did that, he started strangling me,' Ms Hall added.
'And strangled. And strangled.'
Ms Hill met Jennison on the Plenty of Fish dating site - although she did not realise at the time that her new husband had previously served four years in prison for GBH
A victim impact statement read out in court by prosecutors described how she felt as thought she was fighting for her life at that moment.
'He finally stopped and his face had just gone,' Miss Hill said.
'He never spoke, there was no shouting or arguing. He just said "I'm going to kill you and I'm to kill me".'
She moved downstairs and Jennison followed her to the front door. As she reached for the handle he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
She said: 'As I turned to look at him I felt the biggest blow. He split my lip and beat me and carried on beating me unconscious.
'Next thing I heard a voice saying "mum". It was my son - I had been unconscious half-an-hour.'
When Ms Hill was discovered by her son Wade, her arms had been tied up with black electrical flex cord from the microwave, and she had been placed inside a sleeping bag.
Before Jennison left, he had called Wade and told him to come to the house, claiming his mother had taken some tablets and had grabbed a knife, and that he had tied her up for her own safety.
The court heard that when Wade arrived, he thought his mother was dead.
He realised she was alive when he heard her whisper 'please don't hit me again', with Ms Hill being unable to recognise it was her son in front of her.
She was rushed to hospital. Jennison, quickly became the subject of a police wanted appeal and was arrested two days later, and refused to answer questions.
'How I survived that night I have no idea,' Ms Hill added.
'I get flashbacks and I see a therapist because of post-traumatic stress disorder.
'He had been brilliant with me before that. He didn't give me any reason to doubt him. But that night he was a complete bully.'
Ms Hill, who is a care worker, says the attack unfolded quite unexpectedly, but she now wishes she had acted on a gut instinct to look into her husband's past.
Under Clare's Law, which is legislation designed to protect potential victims of domestic abuse, anyone can request information about their partner's past.
Also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, Clare's Law is named after 36-year-old Clare Wood, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, George Appleton, in Salford 2009. He had a history of violence against women.
Ms Hill says it's essential that anyone with concerns about domestic abuse makes proper use of police powers which could protect them.
She also believes that dating websites have a responsibility to carry out background checks on members so as to prevent violent attacks.
'I think they should look into people's backgrounds before they go on these sites,' said Suzanne, who only learned of his extensive criminal past at his sentencing hearing.
She said: 'I met him on Plenty of Fish and that was it. We got on really well and it felt right and nice. He treated me like a queen. He did all the cooking, he was great and he looked after me.
'He had the odd moment but he had never laid a finger on me and I never would have stayed with him if he had.
'The only time I got that feeling in my tummy was with these moods. But I had lived on my own for 24 years so I didn't know if I was being over the top.
'I think women need to be aware if you do get any funny feeling there's Clare's Law. If you get that odd feeling you need to follow it.'
After the attack, Suzanne was contacted by a woman who knew Jennison. She told her that Jennison had a history of violence against women.
Prosecutor Brian Berlyne told Jennison's sentencing hearing that he had 13 previous convictions.
His offences, which date back to 1990, include causing actual bodily harm, common assault, witness intimidation, battery - and he served a four-year prison sentence for causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
The battery conviction related to an incident of domestic violence in 2013, Jennison grabbed his partner's throat and threw a knife at her.
He was then convicted of harassing the same woman the following year, by sending abusive messages and threatening to kill her.
Jennison sent a letter to the judge in the latest case, in which he said he was 'mortified' and 'truly sorry' for his actions towards Ms Hill.
But the judge said he had showed 'little degree of insight' into his offending, and said he had tried to downplay his responsibility in a pre-sentence report.
Judge Timothy Smith said: 'Your record shows that you are a repeated and consistent history of using violence to others when you are in a relationship.'
He said Jennison's behaviour showed a 'repeated pattern of offences of violence and harassment towards former or current partners'.
Jennison, of Gaskall Road, Eccles, will only be released from prison when it is deemed safe to do so by the Parole Board.
He will serve three years and three months in prison and an extended licence period of three years means that even after release, he is at risk of being recalled to prison until 2024.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutors, Ms Hill said: 'I will never get over the shock of what my husband did to me that night.
'My daughter had a feeling about him and she didn't know she could go to the police as a third party.
'I work as a carer caring for people all day and it was a nice bit of telly that was easy to watch. But he's a controlling person and he wanted me to give him the attention. That set him off in a mood. They need stronger sentences for domestic abuse. The person I thought would protect me was the person I needed protecting from.'
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