JAILED for assault: Homeless man who claimed he was millionaire
A homeless man who met a woman online after claiming he was a millionaire with homes in Spain and the UK has been jailed for assaulting her.
Tyrone Fitzgerald, aged 43, quickly moved in with the woman in West Bromwich and their relationship went downhill.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard this week how 'manipulative and controlling' Fitzgerald began bullying and intimidating his victim, as well as carrying out a number of assaults that resulted in her suffering a broken nose and bruising to her face.
The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm before the court on Wednesday.
Nicholas Smith, prosecuting, said Fitzgerald turned up at the victim's home with a bag and said he would 'stay a while' but never left.
The relationship started to deteriorate after nine months when the woman's daughter developed a brain tumour and began taking attention away from him, resulting in the defendant intimidating the woman's friends to the point where they would no longer visit her.
The first assault happened in March when the couple were arguing and he grabbed her round the throat. The woman's daughter then told him to leave her mother alone but Fitzgerald pushed her against the door before pushing her mother on to the floor by the stairs.
The second incident happened in April when the defendant got out of bed, but could not find a T-shirt to wear and shouted: "You should look after your man and make sure he has some clothes to wear". He then punched her three times to the side of the head causing redness and bruising to the cheek.
Mr Smith said he then assaulted her a third time by grabbing her and making her nose bleed.
The final attack happened four days later in June when he pushed her.
Mr Smith added: "He said he would treat her like a bloke and punched her hard on the nose and she heard it crack and start to bleed."
He told the court Fitzgerald had committed numerous offences dating back to 1989, including a number of assaults occasioning ABH.
"There is a serious of behaviours. There is a pattern of offending. It is the manipulative, bullying behaviour that puts this in the top bracket for punishment."
However, Nicholas Berry, mitigating, said Fitzgerald had been on medication for bi-polar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia and struggled to control his emotions, adding he had an 'unenviable' start in life with a mother who was 'ruthlessly' violent. Mr Berry said he stopped taking the medication while he was in the relationship.
Sentencing Fitzgerald to two years in prison and giving him a restraining order, Judge Helen Hughes said: "It is just about as serious a case of domestic violence as one can get."
