If I saw a man with his hands round a woman's neck, in any situation, anywhere, I hope I'd not sit there thinking of all the situations/reasons how this isn't him throttling her (accepting that at the crucial moment I didn't step up to the mark when something did happen).
It would be such an immediate and instinctive response that what happened afterwards when they got home wouldn't be on the agenda.
Surely strangling someone is trying to kill them, or at least threatening they could do the deed.
Messing about with anyone's windpipe is unreasonable, the flat of his hand was on it, you don't check out glands like that you do it with the tips of your fingers dug into the sides of your neck.
But that makes me think they've misrepresented it, that the other diners didn't have that immediate response to go over and intervene.
Dunno.