Police have seen a rise in the number of calls related to domestic violence during lockdown but say they are confident there has not been a "significant increase" in domestic abuse.
New figures show there were 2,697 domestic related calls made to Avon and Somerset Constabulary in March this year and a further 2,848 in April.
This compares to 2,174 calls in March 2019 and 2,848 in April last year.
Although these calls have domestic abuse tags associated with them, they do not necessarily relate to domestic abuse situations - some will concern matters which happened in a domestic setting.
When the UK was put in to lockdown, charity Refuge - which runs the National Domestic Abuse helpline - reported a 25 per cent increase in calls.
There has been a steady flow of domestic abuse cases dealt with at Bristol Magistrates' Court throughout lockdown, with offenders handed domestic violence protection orders. We have named the offenders in the list below.
And on May 21, Bristol Crown Court heard how tensions in lockdown led to a heated row in which an engaged couple spat at each other before the man headbutted his partner.
Though there have been incidents, Avon and Somerset Constabulary say they have not seen a significant rise in cases.
Superintendent Deryck Rees said: “Having assessed all the data available to us we are confident we have not seen a statistically significant increase in domestic abuse since the lockdown began.
“We are closely monitoring a slight rise in verbal arguments within households and officers attending such incidents continue to remain curious and always look to see whether there is anything more to an argument and, when appropriate, provide support and take action if needed.
“But arguments can be very different to abusive relationships and it would be wrong to jump to any conclusions, particularly given the fact the frustrations many people will be feeling in the current situation will undoubtedly lead to more disagreements.
“We continue to monitor all crime trends and regularly provide official figures directly to the Home Office and would urge anyone viewing specific figures in isolation to view them with caution as they may only offer a snapshot of what is actually happening.
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“It is also worth highlighting the difficulty in directly comparing figures from different time periods. Recording practices are continually being improved and this can lead to the appearance of an increase. For instance, when looking at domestic abuse during the past three years, statistics indicate an increase but we know this can partly be attributed to better data collection and analysis and not necessarily an increase in offences.”
The domestic violence cases heard at Bristol Magistrates' Court during lockdown
Jason Stubbs, 52, of Dormeads View in Weston-super-Mare.
Was handed a domestic violence protection order for 28 days on March 25.
Ben Pitman, 23, of Rockwell Wood Court in Frampton Cotterell
Was handed a 28 day domestic violence protection order on March 31.
Rolf Mathison, 47, of Kings Weston Lane, Bristol
Was handed a domestic violence order for 28 days on April 2.
David Bonnick, 34, of St Bedes Road in Kingswood
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order on April 7 and ordered to have no contact with a named party and address.
Ronald Burton, 31, of Walliscote Road, Weston-Super-Mare
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order on April 7 and told to have no contact with a named party and address.
Craig Scragg, 33, of Silbury Road in Ashton Vale.
On April 8, he was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order and told to have no contact with a named party and address.
Philip Maggs, 67, of Chard in Fortfield Road, Whitchurch
On April 28 was given a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person. On May 11, he admitted breaching a domestic violence protection order on April 28 and was fined £50.
Rolf Mathison, 47, of Kings Weston Lane
On April 28, admitted breaching a domestic violence protection order and was fined £50.
Kaine Johnathan Burgess, 23, of Baker Street in Weston -Super-Mare
Was given a 28-day domestic violence protection order on April 29 for the protection of the associated person.
Ricky Lee Cousins, 31, of Gorlangton Close in Hengrove.
On April 29, was given a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of the associated person.
Chantelle Andrew, 36, of Charlton Road in Weston-Super-Mare
Was given a 28-day domestic violence protection order on April 30 for the protection of an associated person.
Bradley Vincent John Waldron, 35, of Stoke Gifford
Was given a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person on April 30.
Jody Lee Creed, 46, of Milton Road in Weston-super-Mare
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order on May 1 for the protection of an associated person.
Ben Gingell, 27, of the Paintworks in Brislington
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person on May 1.
Jeremy Richards, 52, of Redland Park in Bath
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order on May 1 for the protection of an associated person.
Herbert Bejamin, 34, of Wells Road in Totterdown.
On May 5, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Adam Lee Durbin, 31, of Ston Easton in Wells
On May 5, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Sam David Honeywell, 36, of High Street, Hanham
On May 5, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Luke Temblett, 33, of Gay Elms Road in Bishopsworth
On May 5, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Mihai-Iustin Tuturescu, 29, of Victoria Bridge Road in Bath
On May 7, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Kuldeep Bhogal, of Downend Road in Downend
On May 12 was handed a 21-day domestic violence protection order.
Benjamin Jenkins, 41, of Cynder Way in Emersons Green
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order on May 15.
Sebastian Kaippan, 47, of Highridge Crescent in Bishopsworth
Was handed a 19-day domestic violence protection order on May 15.
Johnathan Ali Sadri, 25, of Hardwick in Yate
On May 15 admitted: damaging a vehicle and assault at Toronto Road, Horfield, on April 21; controlling behaviour between October 1 last year and April 21 at Wheatfield Drive in Bradley Stoke; two assaults of an emergency worker at Toronto Road, Horfield, on April 21. He was jailed for 25 weeks.
Tomasz Dembiczak, 43, of Barton House in Aiken Street, St Philip's
On May 15 admittedbreaching a domestic violence protection order by contacting a named individual. He was fined £120.
Barry Alan Walsh, 50, of Conham Hill in Bristol
Was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person on May 19.
Andre Gayle, 28, of Maes Knoll Close in Hengrove
Was handed a domestic violence protection order made for 28 days for the protection of an associated person on May 21.
Noor Ahamed Shakil, 25, of Shaftesbury Avenue in Montpelier
Was handed a domestic violence protection order made for 28 days for the protection of an associated person on May 21.
Jack Clark, 24, of Crow Lane in Henbury.
On May 22, was handed a 28-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Mehmed Alper, 38, of Cornleaze, Bishopsworth
On May 22, was handed a 21-day domestic violence protection order for the protection of an associated person.
Lukasz Blazejczyk, 34, who was living in Throgmorton Road, KnowleOn May 27 he pleaded guilty to common assault, causing criminal damage and harassment between October 1, 2018, and April 28 this year. Judge William Hart handed him a 12 months prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
