Grenfell Tower fireman squeezed wife’s neck while she was driving

Truro Crown Court heard that Charles Cornelius pulled his then wife’s hair and squeezed her throat while she was driving them and their young daughter in the car on the way back from a trip to the Cornish Sea Sanctuary in Gweek.

The 39-year-old, from Biddenden, a village near Ashford in Kent, was before the court today (Friday) for sentencing on the assault.

Cornelius had been on holiday with his then wife and their young daughter in July 2023.

There had been a number of arguments over the course of their stay, including one during which a door came off in their holiday accommodation when the defendant slammed it.

On the day of the offence the family had been planning a visit to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary at Gweek but had rowed again. However, as the tickets had already been paid for they decided to still go, continuing to argue on the way there and around the attraction.

At one point he wanted their daughter passed to him, and when his wife refused he snatched the girl from her arms, grabbing the woman’s right thumb and bending it back so she would let go.

“She recalls seeing a lady nearby watching and she very felt embarrassed by causing this public scene,” said the prosecutor.

The plan had been to meet with family afterwards, but on the way to Falmouth, there was further argument.

Reading from the woman’s statement to police, the prosecutor said: “He was shouting at me [the wife], saying ‘I’m going to slit your throat and you will bleed out.”

She didn’t react, so the defendant began hitting the car footwell of the passenger side, and dashboard, as the woman drove.

“The car was rocking with his actions. The child in the back began screaming and crying, so she asked him to get in the back to calm the child down. Whilst in the back he began kicking and punching the seat.

“She said it was quite difficult to concentrate on the road. He began to pull her hair and made her head go backwards,” added the prosecutor.

“He had both his hands round her neck from behind and began squeezing. She said she was struggling to breathe.”

This was all happening in a moving vehicle, so the woman found somewhere she could pull over and get out the car.

Two men in the vehicle travelling behind them also pulled over, as they had been so concerned about what they saw happening in the car ahead. They took her to the police station so she could explain what happened.

Judge Robert Linford noted from the probation report that Cornelius had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from being a fireman at the Grenfell Tower blaze.

A total of 72 people died and more than 70 were injured when the 24-storey tower block in North Kensington went up in flames on June 14, 2017.

Mr Linford said: “These events have shaped the way he behaved, I’ve no doubt about it.”

Speaking directly to Cornelius, he went on to say: “I know, because I’ve read in the pre-sentence report, that when you look back on it now you have a very high degree of remorse for what you did.

“You have seen things that most of us really couldn’t imagine. These events have scarred you.”

Ramsay Quaife, representing Cornelius, said he had nothing further to add as the judge has said it all.

Cornelius was sentenced to an 18-month community order with mental health treatment and 30 days of rehabilitation activities, as well as 100 hours of unpaid work.

A restraining order was issued not to contact his former wife for three years, aside from childcare arrangements through a solicitor or third party.

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