Portsmouth man 36, in court after strangling and suffocating woman at Waterlooville home

Ronnie Ayres, 36, subjected the complainant to a gruelling ordeal that left her gasping for air at a property in Waterlooville on July 30. Ayres appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court to be sentenced for three charges.

The defendant admitted three offences in court against the same woman. These were assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentional suffocation that ‘affected her ability to breathe’, and intentional strangulation.

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But Ayres, of Clydebank Road, Buckland, was not sentenced after failing to pay his barrister until the morning of the hearing - meaning it had to be adjourned for a week. Prosecutor Holly Fagan questioned ‘why it had taken so long’ for payment to be made, adding: ‘(Ayres) would have known the court date.’

Judge Keith Cutler CBE considered remanding Ayres in prison over previous bail breaches and worries about ‘contacting the victim’ before granting him bail with conditions.