A FORMER partner of the man accused of murdering his new bride and dumping her body in a suitcase said he had dragged her downstairs with his arms round her throat and repeatedly punched her to the head, a jury was told today.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the woman was with Thomas Nutt for about ten years and he was at first lovely to her, never violent or aggressive.

But two years after they met, they had a disagreement and he ‘simply went mad.’

He punched her with his fist causing bruising all over her face. He then took her phone and wouldn’t let her leave the house so that she could report the incident, it was stated.

Nutt, 45, of Shirley Grove, Lightcliffe, is on trial denying the murder of Dawn Walker shortly after their wedding on October 27 last year.

The jury has been told that he has admitted her manslaughter.

Continuing his opening of the Crown’s case, Alistair MacDonald QC, said the woman told how Nutt attacked her again in 2015, dragging her downstairs with his arms round her throat and repeatedly punching her to the head.

She reported the incident and he was arrested and charged with common assault.

Mr MacDonald said he denied the allegation, saying he had to stop the woman from attacking him, but he was found guilty.

“You may think that there are remarkable similarities in the defence he ran on that occasion and what he has said in his defence here. The prosecution makes no bones about this. That defence was as contrived then as it is in this case,” Mr MacDonald said.

The court heard that the woman warned Miss Walker what Nutt could be like but she didn’t believe her. Then in July, 2020, Miss Walker contacted her on Facebook to ask why she had a restraining order in place against him.

Mr MacDonald said Nutt had told Miss Walker he and his former partner had split up because she had cheated on him.

The jury heard that wasn’t true. The woman told Miss Walker it was because he had beaten her up and been found guilty of assault.

“At that time, Dawn said she was at the end of her tether,” Mr MacDonald said.

That same month, Miss Walker told the woman Nutt scared the hell out of her, it was stated.

The trial continues.