Hampshire: Self-styled ‘Joker’ tried to kill ex-partner – court

An “obsessed” man who identified as the fictional villain The Joker tried to kill his former partner by twice strangling her when she ended their relationship, a court has heard.

Anthony Yewman, 45, attacked Jenny Dalton at her home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in August 2023, Southampton Crown Court was told.

He resumed the attack after she regained consciousness and stopped his attempt to commit suicide, the jury heard.

The defendant, of Romford, Essex, denies charges of attempted murder, attempted GBH and intentional strangulation.

Opening the case, prosecutor Matthew Farmer said: “[Mr Yewman] referred to himself as The Joker, that is The Joker from Batman. He identified as The Joker, and he calls her his Harley Quinn…[The Joker’s] sometime girlfriend.”

The barrister said the defendant “stalked” and “controlled” his on-off partner over the course of a “difficult” two-year relationship.

He said Mr Yewman camped in her garden for a number of days until he was arrested.

On another occasion, the defendant spray-painted messages of reconciliation on her garden wall, the prosecutor added.

Mr Farmer said: “He became more and more obsessed about her.

“She describes significant controlling behaviour by him and his stalking was such that she couldn’t get away from him.”

The prosecutor said the defendant followed her to a women’s refuge in East Sussex before persuading her to return with him to Fordingbridge.

On 30 August, after she made it clear the relationship was over, Mr Yewman attempted to strangle her in her bedroom, the court heard.

Ms Dalton regained consciousness, saw him attempting to cut his own throat with a craft knife and told him to stop, Mr Farmer said.

The prosecutor continued: “She, helpless, vulnerable and scared after the first attack, describes him lifting her on to the bed, placing both his hands around her neck and trying with all his might to squeeze the life out of her.”

He said Mr Yewman stopped only when Ms Dalton’s 21-year-old daughter Juliette banged on the door and called the police.

Mr Farmer said the defendant told detectives he had acted in self-defence “after she grabbed him”.

The trial continues.