A serial wife beater has admitted causing his partner serious head injuries just hours after she went to court to beg a judge to allow him home.
Ex soldier Barry Powles was freed after his wife Elizabeth went to court on her invalid buggy to tell the judge she could not live without him, even though he has attacked her repeatedly.
Her plea for mercy resulted in 71-year-old Powles being allowed back to the retirement bungalow they shared in Seaton, East Devon but within hours he had put her in hospital again.
She suffered a suspected brain hemorrhage after being attacked within two days of the couple being reunited and going home.
Powles, of Wessiters, Seaton, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to his wife between June 30 and July 2, 2013 when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.
He stood in the same dock of the same courtroom where he was freed on Friday, June 28, thanks to an intervention by his 70-year-old wife. That was his third assault on her and left her covered in blood and with bruises on her legs.
Powles was already subject to a suspended sentence for he earlier attacks when he was arrested and has spent ten weeks on remand at Exeter Prison since the incident.
On that day he was freed by Judge Barry Cotter, QC, but warned he would face another jail term if he ever assaults his wife again.
Mrs Powles sat at the side of the court during the hearing after arriving on a mobility scooter. She told the judge:"I definitely want to live with my husband."
The couple have been married for more than 50 years. Mrs Powles suffers from breathing and mobility problems while her husband walks with a stick. They consider themselves to be each others' carers.
In the hearing on June 28 Powles admitted common assault and was jailed for two weeks. The sentence meant he was released immediately because he had already been on remand for two months.
He was reunited with his wife at court and they started arguing again in the cafeteria within minutes of him being freed.
In the latest hearing Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, remanded Powles in custody and ordered a pre sentence report and a psychiatric report.
Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said the Crown are no longer pursuing the more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do so.
Mr Robert Linford, defending, said a psychiatric report was needed to investigate whether Powles's violence is the result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder arising from military service earlier in his life.
Judge Gilbert said:"This man has repeatedly attacked his wife, not just on this occasion, which was really very violent. This attack happened within 60 hours of his last release."
