Controlling boyfriend assaulted his partner after she texted friend
HE TRIED TO STRANGLE GIRLFRIEND
A CONTROLLING boyfriend attempted to strangle his partner because she wanted to meet up with a friend for a cup of tea.
Over a four-month relationship, Leighton Williams, 22, subjected his then girlfriend to “disgraceful” domestic violence and controlling behaviour where he chose what she wore and who she saw socially.
Hull Crown Court heard that his girlfriend, who was 19 at the time, lost the care of her child in part due to the cruel abuse she suffered at the hands of Williams and that he made her choose between him and the toddler.
On one occasion, on December 10 last year, it was heard that Williams throttled her after she “text a gay friend about meeting up for a cup of tea”.
The couple had an argument and Williams put his hands around her neck and began to “squeeze”, according to prosecuting barrister Louise Reevell.
Another incident followed around a week later where Williams was confronted about cheating.
Ms Reevell said: “The complainant asked the defendant about a rumour she heard from one of her friends.
“She asked if it was true and he slapped her and demanded who had told her because he wanted to hurt them.”
In January, Williams turned the accusations of cheating onto his girlfriend before tightly gripping her throat and pulling her hair.
“He pulled her hair in a tight grip and this occasion was worse than the first time,” said Ms Reevell.
“She felt he was out of control and just wanted to please him to stop him from what he was doing.”
The complainant would reveal to police that Williams would tell her not wear make-up and that he would have the final say on what she could wear.
He stopped her from contacting or seeing any male friends and whenever she wanted to meet with others he told her where and when she could go and what time she had to come home.
“If she was not back in time there would be consequences and she would not be allowed to see that friend again,” said Reevell.
“As officers were listening to the complainant’s account of the abuse she suffered Williams called her up to 15 times.
“When saying it she was messaged over he him back threatened her that he would take his own life.”
In a statement, Williams’s girlfriend said she “lost everything”, referring to her daughter who was taken into care.
“The defendant was vulnerable and probably craved a relationship,” said Ms Reevell. “The defendant made her choose over him and her daughter.
“She was scared of him. She felt she had become a submissive person.
“She was worn down and totally reliant on the defendant.”
Williams, of White Street in west Hull, pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour. He has previous convictions in his youth, including a sexual offence in 2016.
In 2017, he was jailed for two years in a young offender’s institute after starting a fire outside a block of flats as a warning to his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
Mitigating barrister David Godfrey told the court that that experience of custody was “a difficult time” for Williams and “didn’t serve him well at all”.
Since the relationship ended in January Williams has spent time under curfew and lockdown restrictions focusing on himself and staying away from his ex-girlfriend.
Mr Godfrey also revealed that Williams suffered from an abusive childhood where he had no male role models in his life, saying this led to “obsessional traits”.
“He doesn’t know how to be in relationships,” added Mr Godfrey. “It doesn’t go to fully mitigate what he has done but it might provide context as to why he acted how he acted.
“He suffered abuse and it seems his behaviour has some way mirrored his background. He is sorry for what he did and disgusted by his behaviour.”
Judge Bury told the defendant he had “no right” to behave the way he did.
He said: “While it cannot be said that you were responsible for her daughter going into care you were responsible for her making bad choices which led to it.
“You behaved quite poorly towards her. It is not up to you to decide what your partner wears or who she sees.
“Domestic violence cannot tolerated.”
Williams’s actions were “justifiable” to send him to prison but Judge Bury offered him a chance to better himself in the community.
He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and must not contact his exgirlfriend for five years. be