Businessman not guilty of strangling wife during divorce row at £3m home

Businessman not guilty of strangling wife during divorce row at £3m home Paul Pressland said that while he was relieved at being cleared of the alleged attack, there were 'no winners' - Bookmark A wealthy property developer has been found not guilty of strangling his estranged wife in a divorce row at their £3m Sandbanks home. Following the ruling at Salisbury Crown Court, Paul Pressland, 63, said that while he was relieved at being cleared of the alleged attack on Gemma Martin, there were 'no winners'. The company director had been accused of strangling Ms Martin during a heated argument after a family Sunday roast dinner at their home in Poole, Dorset. A court heard Ms Martin, 52, threw her Ugg slippers at her husband-of-two-years as he brushed his teeth in their en-suite bathroom. The prosecution alleged Mr Pressland reacted by punching her in the ribs, pinning her against a door and squeezing her neck with both hands until her eyes “bulged” and she fell to the floor. But Mr Pressland denied this and said he had acted in self-defence against his wife. He said after hitting him in the face with her slipper, she struck him and grabbed his hair. The pair then “tussled” and “bounced off the walls” before both falling to the floor. Mr Pressland claimed that a bruise Ms Martin suffered to her back was the result of her being pushed against a door handle during the tussle. When asked about red marks on her neck, Mr Pressland suggested these may have been caused by a wetsuit his wife wore for a charity swim on the day of the row. A jury spent exactly one hour deliberating the case at Salisbury Crown Court before finding the father-of-four not guilty. He said afterwards: "I am relieved, but I am just sorry for what everybody has had to go through, in particular my ex-stepsons. "But you have to put your faith in the jury system to find the truth." He said he could not comment on whether the CPS should have brought the charges against him in the first place. The court heard the couple got together in 2014 and married in 2022, but in 2024 Ms Martin sought a divorce on the grounds of adultery, the jury was told. The mother-of-three drew up a divorce “wish list” of things she wanted from the acrimonious break-up. Items included a £1m home, a £60,000 annual income, a £35,000 Range Rover and cars for her two sons. Mr Pressland said he was disappointed to find out his wife had filed the paperwork for the divorce from an “office gossip” before informing him. Matters came to a head on December 1, 2024, when the couple hosted Ms Martin's parents for an early Christmas dinner as they were going to Thailand for three months. Mr Pressland made the dinner and drank red wine while his wife did the charity swim. Ms Martin claimed her husband's mood changed after her parents left at about 8.30pm and the argument followed. Ms Martin told the court of how her husband strangled her. She said: "I remember him squeezing and everything going a little blank. I couldn't breathe; I could feel my head spinning and my eyes bulging. "I just thought, 'This is it'. I felt overpowered. "He let go after about five seconds, and I fell to the floor. I started screaming, hyperventilating and went into a panic attack. I was in shock from severe trauma." But Mr Pressland claimed he went upstairs alone and Ms Martin burst in swearing and calling him names before throwing her slippers at him. He told the court: "She struck me with her fists, then went out and came back and did it again. She grabbed my hair; being vain, I didn't want my hair wrenched out, so I went with the flow; if she pulled, I went with it. "I was being pulled around by my hair, backwards and forwards towards the master bedroom. I said, 'You're hurting me, can you let go'." He said he acted in self-defence, adding: "Gemma has been described as Amazonian by friends. She's very fit, she works out, she does boxing and PT. I was defending myself. "I was the victim. I didn't use excessive force; I did what I felt was necessary to placate the situation and defend myself against somebody who was attacking me.”