Man who threatened, stalked and throttled woman is sent to jail

THUG’S CAMPAIGN OF TERROR

A THUG has been sent to jail for a long campaign of terror against his partner.

During his relationship with the woman, Thomas Nixon was made subject to court orders for violence against her, which he breached.

The stalking continued after they lived apart, with Nixon, on one occasion last summer, calling her mobile while she was filling up her car at a petrol station before approaching her from across the road to shout threats at her while she locked herself in the vehicle.

On another occasion a police negotiator had to be called to her house after he threatened to slash his own throat with the knife during an argument. The worst incident, in August last year, saw him grab the woman by the throat so tightly she was unable to speak.

In a statement to Leicester Crown Court, the woman’s father told the judge: “She lives in constant fear of what he’s going to do to her and I’m worried about the effect it has on her mental health and the effect it has on the children.”

Nixon, 35, of Hazelwood Road, Evington, Leicester, had pleaded guilty to stalking and actual bodily harm and appeared at the court on Friday for sentencing.

The incidents over July and August last year included:

■ Swearing at her when they were packing to go on holiday together and then punching her in the face and shouting: “You dirty ******* cheat, you’re dead to me.”

■ Shouting through the letterbox while she was in bed, later standing in her kitchen arguing with her and holding a knife to his chest.

■ Phoning her while she was with police officers - with the phone on speaker - saying: “I’m going to terrorise you. I’m going to break your windows. I don’t care if the kids are there.”

Judge Keith Raynor told Nixon there was a “high degree of planning” in what he did to the woman. He jailed him for 27 months and made a five-year restraining order to keep him away from her after his release from prison.

Earlier in the hearing, Nixon’s barrister Jonathan Dunne told the judge: “Your honour, he is a 35-yearold man who has lost everything. He recognises things are at an end but he does want to see his children.”