A York man has been jailed for four years for horrific acts of violence in which he choked a woman and wounded her by banging her head repeatedly against a glass door.
Joshua William Wright, 26, slammed the victim’s ahead against a door until it broke, causing a cut to her face, and throttled her to the point where she felt she was “fighting for her life” and could hardly breathe, York Crown Court heard.
Wright, of Queen Victoria Street, South Bank, was convicted of wounding with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial in December. He was found not guilty of raping the woman.
He appeared for sentence yesterday (Monday, 26 June) after being remanded in custody.
During the trial, prosecutor Michael Morley said the victim felt she was fighting for her life during the incident at a property in York in 2021.
The terrifying incident had had a profound emotional effect on the victim and she now had “trust issues” even with friends. She had had to quit her job, leaving her in debt.
Memories of the horrific ordeal made her “sick to her stomach” and she now found it hard to trust people.
The victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, said she had experienced “feelings of shame” and suffered flashbacks, nightmares, migraines and sleeping problems for months afterwards and had sought help from a therapist.
‘I couldn’t breathe’
Mr Morley said that Wright had been drinking before the incident. Later, the victim secretly recorded a phone conversation between them during which he admitted to harming her and apologised.
Wright had smashed her head against a glass door “repeatedly”, leaving the victim with a wound or cut to her face.
Mr Morley said that Wright had tried to frame the victim by trying to get her to touch a knife so her prints would be on it, with the intention of using it as part of his case for self-defence.
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Wright told her he would summon help for her if she touched the blade, added the prosecutor.
The victim refused to touch it, whereupon Wright started strangling her.
The victim, who gave evidence during the trial, said: “He jumped on top of me and started strangling me.
“I couldn’t breathe. I was starting to black out and he was just holding onto my windpipe. He pulled my hands back to the side. I was trying to kick him away.”
Defence barrister Sarah Vine KC said that Wright suffered from a mental disorder and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Judge Simon Hickey described Wright as a “very dangerous man” and that he had left the victim with “emotional damage”.
Wright was jailed for four years.
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