Dean Berg refused to leave his cell to attend his trial
A man headbutted and throttled his partner before pulling a knife on her in a “sudden explosion of anger”, a court has heard. Dean Berg left his victim with a collapsed and displaced fracture of her shoulder in a brutal attack in her own home.
However, it’s not known exactly how the injuries were caused – the woman lost consciousness during the assault and the defendant refused to attend court to give evidence at his trial.
The 49-year-old appeared at Swansea Crown Court via videolink and without legal representation for his sentencing hearing, and when asked by a judge if there was anything he wanted to say to her the defendant replied with two words – “Not really”.
The court heard that on October 27, 2024, Berg launched a “wholly unprovoked” attack on his partner in her Swansea home, butting her in the face and causing her to lose consciousness and fall the floor. When the woman came around the defendant was on top of her choking her, causing her to pass out again. When she came to for a second time, the defendant was pointing a knife at her.
Hannah George, prosecuting, told the court that the woman suffered a collapsed lung and a displaced fracture to her shoulder in the attack, but that it was not possible to identify the mechanisms by which she suffered the injuries. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the complainant she said was receiving ongoing physiotherapy on her injured shoulder, and said she had been left suffering with nightmares and flashbacks.
She said she was “traumatised” by the parts of the assault he she could not remember, and said when she saw Berg holding a knife over her she thought she was going to die.
The woman also said she no longer feels safe in her own home and no longer trusts her own judgement, and she said she wanted to court to know that the attack changed her life and that “I will never feel safe again”.
Dean Berg, of Buckles Way caravan park, South Ockendon, Essex, had previously been convicted at trial of inflicting grievous bodily harm and strangulation when he appeared in the dock via videolink for sentencing. The trial had been conducted in his absence after the refused to leave his cell to attend court, and he was unrepresented at the sentencing hearing.
The defendant has nine previous convictions for 11 offences including six for matters of violence – assault occasioning actual bodily harm, batteries, and common assaults. One of the convictions relates to assaults on a previous partner.
Judge Catherine Richards told the defendant she had read his pre-sentence report which detailed his background, and she asked him he wanted to say anything about sentencing – Berg replied: “Not really”.
The judge said on the day in question Berg had launched a “wholly unprovoked” assault on his partner in a “sudden explosion of anger”. She said it was clear on the evidence that the defendant was responsible for the injuries suffered by the complainant, whether that was by direct blows to the woman or as a result of her falling to the floor after being butted.
The judge also said that it was also clear from the contents of the report and from those occasions when Berg had attended court that his behaviour was “unpredictable”, and she said the defendant was not motivated to work with probation to address his offending.
Berg was sentenced to 40 months in prison, and must serve half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login