An Old Etonian who threatened to throw his ex-partner down a disused well has been jailed for 24 years for attempted murder.
Douglas Clifton Brown, 56, attacked Camilla Welby and put her in “complete terror that she was about to be killed”, a court heard.
Judge Alice Robinson, sentencing him at Norwich Crown Court, said Clifton Brown became angry about a perceived slight while driving after drinks at a friend’s house.
He was supposed to be taking her home, but instead drove past the turning for Miss Welby’s house.
The judge said Clifton Brown, from Congham, in Norfolk, told Miss Welby he would “drop her off at the next village and she could walk home in the dark”, but then started driving again after he “tried unsuccessfully to get her out of the car”.
“On the way, you were angry, shouted and repeatedly struck her in the face,” the judge said, noting that Miss Welby’s nose was broken and her eye sockets were bruised.
She told Clifton Brown: “You said you were going to take her (Miss Welby) to a disused well at High House, throw her in it, then yourself.”
The High House Estate has been in his family for generations and is now a wedding venue.
The judge said the defendant had “recently topped up the water in the well. It was in a remote wooded location”.
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Clifton Brown drove right up to the well, got out of the car, and Miss Welby was in “complete terror that she was about to be killed”, the judge said.
She said Miss Welby was able to grab her scarf and wind it round Clifton Brown’s neck to get him off her.
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The judge described the incident as an “angry, drunken and petulant, albeit extreme, reaction to the perceived slight from Ms Welby earlier in the evening and likely a build-up of antagonism during your relationship”.
“I accept that the impulsivity associated with ADHD may have played a part in the offending by impairing your ability to exercise appropriate judgment,” she said.
Clifton Brown was found guilty of attempted murder after an earlier trial and had previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and making a threat to kill.
