A lottery winner battered his girlfriend on their first holiday abroad to celebrate his £3.6million jackpot – then posed poolside with a bottle of fizz just hours after being convicted.
Sean Henderson attacked Suzanne Childs in a drunken rage at a luxury Tenerife hotel booked to celebrate his life-changing win last month.
The carpenter, from Ilfracombe, Devon, grabbed Ms Childs, 42, by the arm, hurled her against a wall and forced her to the ground during the attack at the five-star GF Gran Costa Adeje resort.
A Spanish court heard Ms Childs was left with painful bruising to her arm and knee, as well as injuries to her head and face in the attack last Thursday.
On Monday, Henderson was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay compensation.
Incredibly, after being spared jail on his birthday, the woman-beater shared a Facebook post clutching a bottle of sparking wine poolside, captioned: ‘Happy 40th to me!!’.
The brazen post was cryptically set to a cover of The Rolling Stones track ‘I’m Free’.
Ms Childs, a designer who has three daughters from a previous relationship, said the assault had left her fearing for her life.
Sean Henderson attacked Suzanne Childs in a drunken rage at a luxury Tenerife hotel booked to celebrate his life-changing win last month
The carpenter, from Ilfracombe, Devon, grabbed Ms Childs, 42, by the arm, hurled her against a wall and forced her to the ground during the attack at the five-star GF Gran Costa Adeje resort
A Spanish court heard Ms Childs was left with painful bruising to her arm and knee, as well as injuries to her head and face in the attack last Thursday
‘I honestly thought he was going to kill me,’ she said.
‘When he first got off the sofa I could see how angry he was and I knew I needed to run straight away.
‘He caught me, grabbed my arm and threw me head-first into the wall.
‘I was absolutely petrified. The force of my head hitting the wall made me fear I’d fractured my skull or suffered brain damage.
‘There was blood and broken glass everywhere, I practically crawled out of the room.’
The couple had travelled abroad together for the first time to celebrate Henderson’s National Lottery Set For Life win, which he landed on December 23.
The jackpot means the remorseless thug will receive £10,000 a month for the next 30 years.
Ms Childs said: ‘When he won, I thought, ‘this is amazing – what a great life we’re going to have together.
‘But it was like a switch flipped and the real Sean came out.
‘His behaviour changed, his attitude towards me changed. It felt like the money fed his ego and he didn’t need me anymore.
On Monday, Henderson was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay compensation
After being spared jail on his birthday, Henderson shared a Facebook post clutching a bottle of sparking wine poolside, captioned: ‘Happy 40th to me!!’
‘He was verbally horrible the first night. Then two days later it turned physical.
‘We’d been drinking and he was very drunk. He was saying horrible things for ages – like I was a scrounger who was only with him for the money.
‘I got out of bed and went over to try and calm things down. Some water from my glass splashed on him and he just exploded.
‘I saw how angry he was and started running away, but he chased me, grabbed my arm and threw me head-first into the wall.
‘There were no apologies, no sorries. He just said, ‘I didn’t mean to do that.’ He doesn’t give a s***.
‘I could have fractured my skull.’
Henderson appeared at the Violence Against Women Section of the Court of First Instance of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Court documents state that on January 22 at around 9.30pm in Room 286 of the hotel, Henderson seized Ms Childs by the arm, threw her against the wall and to the ground, striking her head, knee and upper lip.
She was left with a painful bruise on the inside of her right arm, a bruise over her left kneecap and facial injuries. She also suffered a cut to her thumb.
Ms Childs managed to flee the room and reach the lift, where another couple came to her aid.
Hotel staff called police and an ambulance, and Henderson was arrested.
He spent 48 hours in custody before appearing in court, where he confessed to ‘gender-based assault’ – the equivalent of domestic violence in the UK.
The jackpot means the remorseless thug will receive £10,000 a month for the next 30 years
Prosecutors had demanded an immediate nine-month jail term, but Henderson was given suspended sentence – common in Spain where prison sentences of two years or less are normally deferred for first-time offenders.
Authorities also imposed a restraining order preventing him from returning to the hotel, coming within 500m of Ms Childs or travelling on the same flight home.
She returned to Britain alone on January 27.
Ms Childs, also from Ilfracombe, has since reported the assault to Devon and Cornwall Police.
Video recorded shortly before the assault shows Henderson unleashing a foul-mouthed tirade at Ms Childs, calling her a ‘vile c***’, branding her a ‘scrounger’ and telling her ‘I’ve paid for every f***ing thing’.
He also drunkenly sneered: ‘You can’t win the money and not be a c***,’ and told her: ‘Go and find someone else who you think is amazing.’
Ms Childs revealed there had been warning signs earlier in the relationship, including shouting and hurtful comments, but this was the first time he had been physically violent towards her.
She said: ‘Winning the money just seemed to set him off. It boosted his ego into the stratosphere.’
Henderson had recently spoken publicly about his lottery win, telling how he only bought the winning ticket after being unable to park at Lidl and popping into a Co-op instead.
The father said at the time that the prize had ‘changed my life forever’, adding that he planned to celebrate with the five-star Canary Islands holiday, buy a house, treat his son to a PlayStation 5 and enjoy meals out with family.
He also said he intended to keep working as a carpenter, but with more flexibility.
Ms Childs said she had no hesitation in ending the relationship.
She added: ‘There’s not enough money in the world to stay with someone who’s abusive. I’d rather be with someone dirt poor and kind than rich and violent.
‘Sean’s ego was already there. Then the cash arrived and it sent his narcissism into overdrive.
‘I just want people to know what a nasty person he is.
‘Hopefully it will stop this happening to another woman who might be drawn in by his wealth.’
