A ‘BULLY’ accused of trying to drown his ‘terrified’ former partner in the bath says he was only trying to frighten her and did not want to kill her, a court heard.

Richard Evans entered the witness box on Wednesday, telling a jury he ‘could not cope’ when he attacked Jane Webster in the bath at his home in Ronkswood Hill, Worcester. The 48-year-old said he told Mrs Webster to ‘get in the bath’ after a night out drinking in the Gun Tavern in Worcester on July 4 last year. Jennifer Josephs, prosecuting, described Evans as a ‘bully’ and a ‘controlling man’ when she cross-examined him.

Evans admits assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats to kill but denies attempted murder at his trial at Worcester Crown Court. The complainant said Evans was annoyed with her when he left the pub and she did not return home with him, staying with her friend Debbie Heason instead.

Evans, who had also been drinking cans of lager on the day of the attack, said he started to ‘rebuke her’. He said he told her: “I’m sick of this – I’ve had a gut-full.”

Evans admitted he subjected his former partner to ‘a verbal onslaught’, telling her: “As far as I’m concerned you would not cross the road if I was on fire.” He accepted he told her she was ‘going to die’ because he knew she was afraid of dying.

“I said hurtful things to tap into her fears,” he told the jury. Evans said he had taken an overdose four weeks before the attack, drinking 18 cans of lager and taking Tramadol. Evans said Mrs Webster was also banging her own head on the wall while she was in the bath and he got into the bath to stop her. However, he also accepted he had pushed her head under the water.

Evans, who had suffered with depression for 25 years, said: “I wanted her to feel the emotional anguish in the same way I had been feeling, not as a revenge.”

He added: “I wanted her to feel desperate, yeah. I wanted her to feel she was going to die, yeah.”

Evans was not sure whether he had pushed her head or her shoulders to submerge her but said he did this three times for about 10 seconds each time. Before he did it the first time he told her ‘get ready!’ Evans also said he told her: “It’s a shame it’s come to this.”

“She must have been terrified” said Nicholas Berry, defending.

“Yeah” replied the defendant. The trial continues.