'Stop making me out to be a psycho' abusive ex-footballer ranted after breaking girlfriend's ankle
An abusive former youth football star told his "petrified" ex-girlfriend "stop making me out to be a psycho" - after he broke her ankle and bombarded her with calls.
David Arrowsmith, who was on the books of Premier League club Nottingham Forest, grabbed the victim around the throat in a drunken rage.
The 6ft 4in man fell on top of his 5ft 2in victim, snapping her ankle, before bizarrely trying to force it back into place.
The victim sat with her mother at the back of court, sobbing and audibly gasping as the facts of the case were read out. And she left the courtroom in disgust when Arrowsmith was handed a jail sentence of 18 months.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told how Arrowsmith and the victim were in a relationship for just over a year from November 2021 to January this year.
She described it as going well in the beginning, and that Arrowsmith was "loving and attentive". But soon his alcohol addiction took over and and caused him to act "aggressively".
"He would punch, push and hit her when he became angry at her," said Suzanne Francis, prosecuting.
Arrowsmith's anger reached boiling point on December 29 last year when the couple had a night out in Telford. He "shoved her around the apartment" and grabbed her around the neck before falling on top of her with his full weight on her ankle.
"Her ankle was at a 90 degree angle and he tried to shove it back into position," Ms Francis told the court.
An ambulance was called but there wasn't one available due to demands on the service, so she had to be taken to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford in a taxi.
