'I seriously thought he was going to kill me': Prison guard is found guilty of choking his ex-girlfriend during a heated argument and threatening to break the fingers of another
- Samuel Leigh Berry was found guilty for brutally assaulting two ex-girlfriends
- The court also heard that he threatened to slit the throat of a former partner
- 'I seriously thought he was going to kill me,' the woman said in a text message
- Another woman recalled he threatened to 'break all her fingers' if she lied to him
A prison guard found guilty for brutally assaulting and intimidating two ex-girlfriends has been granted bail.
Samuel Leigh Berry, an officer from Cessnock Correctional Centre, fronted a magistrate at Wyong Local Court on five counts of assaulting and intimidating the former partners, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
On Thursday, the court heard that Berry threatened to slit the throat of a former girlfriend during a heated argument in which he asked her if she was cheating on him, back in December 2017.
'I seriously thought he was going to kill me': A prison guard is found guilty of choking his ex-girlfriend during a heated argument and threatening to break the fingers of another (stock image pictured)
'I seriously thought he was going to kill me... I'm not talking about choking in the bedroom,' the woman said in a text message.
She explained the only way she could calm him down was by agreeing to have sex with him.
In another incident, the same woman said he forced her into a wrist lock, a defensive technique used by guards on prisoners, when he again asked if she was cheating on him.
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In a previous court hearing, a second ex-girlfriend revealed that he had threatened to 'break all her fingers', in July 2018.
'He did tell me if I ever lied to him or cheated on him, he would break all of my fingers,' she recalled.
Berry also threatened to bash the woman's ex-boyfriend, who he knew was an inmate at Cessnock jail, after listening in on inmate phone calls.
Samuel Leigh Berry, an officer from Cessnock jail, fronted a magistrate at Wyong Local Court on five counts of assaulting and intimidating the former partners (Cessnock Correctional Centre pictured)
Despite the threat, he did not assault the woman's former partner.
Ben Hoffman, Berry's solicitor, told the court that his client would be in a vulnerable if put behind bars.
He was granted conditional bail before his sentencing on March 25, at Wyong Local court.
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