Man sentenced for assaulting a Wiltshire woman

Thursday, 17 August 2023 01:00

A 51-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and disqualified from driving for drink driving and assaulting a Wiltshire woman.

Matthew Ponchaud, of Bournemouth, was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on August 11.

He pleaded guilty to the intentional strangulation of a woman in Tisbury and common assault.

It follows an incident at an address in Tisbury on November 12, 2022.

Ponchaud then made several phone calls to his victim, in breach of his bail conditions, and on January 9th threatened to kill her if she did not drop the charges.

Further to this, on March 7th he was stopped on the High Street, Hindon and blew 74 at the roadside and was arrested for drink driving.

Local Crime Investigator for Wiltshire Police Martin Batchelor said: “I want to pay tribute to Ponchaud’s victim who, despite intimidation, continued to bravely speak to us about what had happened so that we were able to bring him to justice.

“We would always urge anyone who has been the victim of abuse, no matter when the offences occurred, to come forward and speak to police. We have specially-trained teams to investigate these types of crimes, and we will deal with your report sensitively.”

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