Whitstable man jailed for prolonged abuse of girlfriend, months of violence and threats
Tyla Wanstall subjected his partner to months of violence, threats and controlling behaviour. Canterbury Crown Court jailed him despite trauma from finding his mother and sister dead.
Whitstable abuser jailed after campaign of violence and threats against girlfriend
A man who discovered his mother and teenage sister dead in his burger van was jailed on Wednesday after Canterbury Crown Court ruled that the trauma he had suffered did not excuse a prolonged campaign of abuse against his partner, kentonline.co.uk reports.
Tyla Wanstall, 29, of Thanet Way, subjected the woman to months of threats, violence and controlling behaviour from September 2024, leaving her with physical injuries and, on at least one occasion, fearing she would be thrown from a bridge.
Judge Simon James, while accepting that Wanstall had "suffered considerably" following the deaths, said it was "difficult to equate" his mental health difficulties with the "protracted and serious abuse" he went on to inflict. A prison sentence, the judge said, was the only justifiable punishment.
Trauma cited but rejected as excuse
The court heard that Wanstall had struggled with PTSD after finding the lifeless bodies of his mother and sister at his Whitstable snack wagon in February 2023, where both died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Defending barrister James Harrison argued that "significant mitigation and explanation" could be found in the fact that the relationship began very soon after those deaths. The impact of that loss, combined with the defendant's sense of responsibility, had "carried through" into what he described as an "ill-defined, highly emotive, intense and toxic" relationship.
The court was told the pair met in October 2023 and began messaging via Snapchat before entering into a relationship.
"Regular and methodical" control and violence
Prosecutor Paul Valder told the court that over a prolonged period, Wanstall subjected his victim to "regular and methodical" attempts to control her life, alongside death threats and acts of violence "peppered with a degree of degradation and humiliation."
These included spitting in her face, calling her a slag, punching her in the arm, face and stomach, and striking her with a stool. He repeatedly accused her of cheating and bombarded her with calls from a withheld number after she blocked him.
Cracks in the relationship first became visible, Valder said, when Wanstall discovered the woman had met up with another man. He screamed at her on the phone, called her repeatedly after she hung up, and then sent a text saying he loved her and wanted to resolve matters.
When she agreed to see him, he drove her to his caravan, punching her in the arm along the way. He then stopped on a bridge over the Thanet Way, dragged her from the car by her hair to the edge of the bridge while screaming at her.
"She thought he was going to throw her off, but he then said words to the effect that she wasn't worth him going to jail for and pushed her away," Valder told the court.
Once back in the car, Wanstall spat in her face and began calling her names. After the incident, she blocked his number, only for him to contact her more than 100 times from a withheld number.
The victim ultimately relented and resumed contact, the court was told, as that had been the first time he had been violent towards her. "He apologised and said he loved her," Valder said. "She felt the same, so they got back together. However, their difficulties continued."
Axe swung, stool smashed, hospital visit refused
A further incident in December 2024 followed after Wanstall saw the woman speaking to another man on a night out. Back at his home, he accused her of "always" cheating, swung an axe around in a bid to intimidate her, then grabbed a stool, smashed it on the ground and struck her ankle with it.
When she asked to be taken to hospital because of the pain, he refused, placed a bag of frozen peas on her injury and told her he loved her. The following day, described in court as an amateur rapper, he took her shopping for clothes at Bluewater. "She felt it was a means to stop her from reporting him," Valder told the court.
The abuse continued over the following months. In one incident, Wanstall threatened to "snap her jaw" after she posted a video on social media set to the music of what he considered a rival. "She recorded the call and the defendant sounds beside himself with rage," Valder said.
On another occasion, while driving, he grabbed the victim by the hair, smashed her head against the centre console and window, punched her in the face — causing a black eye — and then to the stomach. Each time she tried to leave the car, he leant across and shut the door, the court was told.
Two weeks after that, he threatened to turn up at her workplace, then told her he "loved her so much he was going crazy."
Arrested, initially denied all charges
Wanstall was arrested in August last year and initially gave a no-comment interview. He subsequently described the victim as "antagonistic and spiteful" — a characterisation the prosecution said was partly borne out by their TikTok exchanges. He also accused her of sleeping with one of his friends, denied hitting her and claimed she had attacked him.
Having initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, by February this year he had admitted multiple offences, including assault by beating, controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and making a threat to kill.
The court was also told that the victim had "completely withdrawn from police contact" and had not provided a statement addressing the impact of her former partner's conduct on her.
Judge James sentenced Wanstall on 1 April, telling him that the sustained and serious nature of the abuse left no alternative to a custodial term.
Source: The Sun