Woman forced to hide bruises with veil, court hears

Antonio Villafane, also known as Anthony Manson, arrives at Cardiff Crown Court on September 30, 2025

A man who beat his partner after she refused to have sex with him, forced her to wear an Islamic headdress to hide the bruises, a court has been told.

The trial of Antonio Villafane, 68, also known as Anthony Manson, from Tintern, Monmouthshire, has begun at Cardiff Crown Court.

The court heard that following his arrest, Mr Villafane told police that he had strangled his former partner until she passed out "more then 10 times" during their eight-year relationship.

He is accused of coercive or controlling behaviour, unlawful wounding, actual bodily harm and fraud - charges he denies.

The trial is being held at Cardiff Crown Court

On one occasion, the woman claimed her hands and feet were tied before her head was pushed into a plastic box filled with rain water.

In a police video interview, played to the jury, Sally Ann Norman, 64, told police: "I tried to fight him off, but he was just too strong for me.

"He just overpowered me, then he got scared at the last minute, I thought he was going to drown me."

She said he would "flip" from being angry to being calm, "as if he felt guilty".

"He would say 'I have to work on myself'. Then we would kiss and make up. I thought he wouldn't do it again," she said.

The jury of seven women and five men were told the couple met in 2015 when he was handing out flyers for a singing workshop in Glastonbury, Somerset.

The woman told police she had been married for more than 30 years at the time, but described the marriage as "unhappy."

A relationship quickly developed between her and Mr Villafane, who was known to her as Tai. But she told police it quickly became violent.

The jury heard Ms Norman told police that she had joined a Sufi Islamic religious community.

After being left with a black eye and bruising following one alleged attack, she said Mr Villafane ordered her to wear a full face covering to hide her injuries, telling her "if anyone asks it's between you and your God, nothing to do with them".

Ms Norman said at times he ordered her to stay in a caravan on their land, telling her to "pray for forgiveness".

She said she was not allowed to leave until he said so, giving her water and dates to eat.

The court also heard Ms Norman received £300,000 as a divorce settlement. The money was spent buying animals and land in Monmouthshire which Mr Villafane said was in both of their names, but it turned out to be a lie.

She said at times he would take her to the bank to withdraw cash "on a daily basis".

Ms Norman said he told her that her family would be in danger if she tried to end the relationship and that he would "kill my children, my family and then kill me".

The court was told the couple found land to buy in Tintern in the Wye Valley. She said buying a plot of her own was something she had always wanted to do, as she wanted to be self-sufficient and live sustainably.

In the week that she left Mr Villafane in July 2023, Ms Norman told police how she was dragged from an outbuilding by her hair before he pressed "a knife quite hard" to her throat and told her he would "chop her up and feed her to their dogs."

"I thought, this is it," she said, "he's going to do it this time.''

She said he told her: "No-one can hear you scream in the middle of the forest."

Mr Villafane denies the charges against him and the trial continues.