Ceramicist Smashed His Own Pots in Rage During TV Rugby Match

A ceramicist smashed his pottery in front of his “terrified” wife after allegedly becoming enraged when he could not find a rugby match on television, a court heard.

Jeremy Broadway had returned from lunch with his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Sam, when he discovered that the England-Australia match was not immediately available to watch.

The court was told that Sam did not help him look for the broadcast because she was caring for the family cat at the time.

Mrs Broadway, who is also a potter, said her husband then became “like somebody possessed” after she went to their shared studio and discovered that some of his pots had cracked on the stove.

The 70-year-old former public school teacher allegedly stormed into the studio and smashed the pottery against a wall.

He was also accused of grabbing his 70-year-old wife by her apron and pushing her into the sink.

Broadway allegedly then struck a door with a metal telescope before forcing his 34-year-old daughter into a corner. Sam responded by punching her father, claiming she had acted in self-defence.

Weymouth Magistrates’ Court in Dorset heard that the mother and daughter barricaded themselves inside the kitchen, using furniture to block the door before contacting police.

Broadway denied every allegation made against him.

He told the court that he had merely been channel-hopping, describing the claim that he had lost his temper over the rugby as “almost laughable”.

Broadway said he had not touched his wife in the studio and denied breaking the pots. However, he acknowledged being irritated after some of them “exploded” on the stove and said he “might have raised my voice”.

Magistrates said Mrs Broadway’s and her daughter’s accounts were “not consistent” and contained contradictions. As the prosecution had not proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, Broadway was found not guilty of two assault charges.

The alleged confrontation took place on November 1 last year at the family’s home in Child Okeford, Dorset.

The court heard that the family had hurried home from lunch because Broadway wanted to watch the rugby.

But the match was not available on a mainstream television channel, and Broadway struggled to locate it without assistance, the court was told on Monday.

Giving evidence, Mrs Broadway said: “That was enough for him to get angry. He said we should be helping more.

“At that point I decided to go to the pottery. I was going to get some space.”

She said she noticed some pots on the stove had cracked, but said that when she told him what had happened ‘he went absolutely mad’.

Mrs Broadway told the court: ‘He was blaming me, saying it was my fault, why wasn’t I watching them? He just lost it.

‘He picked up the pots and threw them against the wall. He grabbed my apron and then my clothing on my shoulders and pushed me against the sink.

‘I managed to get away and ran indoors and shouted up to Sam, something like ‘stay in your room’.

‘The rage was so much, the face was red, the veins were up. I couldn’t get through to him, I really tried.

‘He started pounding on the door. We were both absolutely terrified. He was just like somebody possessed.’

Sam Broadway said she could not hear what was being said in the pottery studio but could hear her father ‘screaming and shouting’.

She claimed he advanced towards her with a clenched fist and so she punched her father.

But Mr Broadway, who used to teach art at Bryanston School near Blandford, told the court he did not touch his wife in the pottery studio and denied smashing pots.

He also denied being the aggressor to Sam and said she had launched an unprovoked attack.

Mr Broadway said: ‘Catherine came up and said there’s something wrong with the fire. She had left it unattended and the damp pieces of pottery were starting to explode.

‘Some had already blown, others hadn’t so I tried to get them off quickly.

‘My wife came in, I said ‘I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on them?’ It transpired she had been helping Sam.’

He said he went upstairs to watch the television, at which point his daughter ‘charged straight towards me and immediately started hitting me quite hard, at least three times, maybe half a dozen.’

Mr Broadway added: ‘I just tried to shield myself, I never tried to hit her.’

Catherine Lickley, defending, told the magistrates that in the 999 call Mrs Broadway told the handler she did not feel threatened and that her daughter often read situations incorrectly due to her autism.

Mrs Broadway said in the call they had not had any form of heated argument and no threat was made by her husband.

Ms Lickley also said Sam had punched Mr Broadway with such force she had fractured a bone in her hand, but had no other injuries that supported him assaulting her.