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A husband who kicked his wife unconscious in a hotel lift after a row about having sex at a swingers club narrowly avoided jail. Benjamin Wake, 35, and his unnamed wife were staying at the Park Royal Hotel in Stretton, in Warrington, Cheshire, on September 27, 2025, when a row sparked about him having unprotected sex at a swingers club.

Warrington Magistrates' Court heard the pair travelled from the North-East of England, attended the swingers club in leafy Northwich, Cheshire, with another couple and Wake had unprotected sex there. But back at their hotel during a raging row, Wake kicked his wife until she was unconscious, then left her to be found on the lift floor by a member of the public.

Wake, of Ingleby near Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, appeared at Warrington Magistrates Court last Friday for sentencing on one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Magistrate chair Timothy Mullins told him: "We have taken into account everything that has been said. The pictures of the assault are pretty graphic."

Wake received a 28-week suspended sentence. He was ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation and pay court costs of £187.

Prosecutor Chelsea Kearns explained how the couple booked a taxi from the Park Royal Hotel to go to Club Alchemy, a swingers club in Northwich with another couple.

Wake had unprotected sex with another person at the swingers club, sparking the row that raged on as they returned to their hotel later that night.

The victim told police she recalled being kicked by Wake in the hotel lift. She was kicked until she was unconscious by the defendant and left.

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A member of the public discovered the victim on the lift floor, and she was taken to the hospital with a suspected bleed on the brain and a broken cheekbone.

Peter Green, defending Wake, said his client's recollection of the incident is "limited" but "clearly the case has crossed the custody threshold."

Mr Green added: "The biggest point in mitigation is that Mr Wake is the breadwinner for the family. He is a site manager and earns around £60,000 a year.

"If he were to receive an immediate custodial sentence he would lose that employment and won't be able to pay the mortgage - his wife cannot pay that.

"He has no previous convictions. He wants to make things right with his wife, he has a lot of making up to do."