A York man has been jailed for a vicious attack on his ex-partner in which he strangled her almost to the point of asphyxiation.
Daniel Midgley, 40, went to the victim’s home in Ridgeway in a blind rage and demanded she hand him back his belongings after they had broken up for the final time following an “on-off”, one-year relationship, York Crown Court heard.
Midgley started swearing at the woman, who was named in court, and as the victim went to get his pressure washer in the conservatory, he demanded she also hand him back his drill, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.
“When she said she didn’t know where it was, he grabbed her by the throat and squeezed to the point where she couldn’t breathe,” added the barrister.
The victim was then pushed backwards into an ironing board propped up against a wall, as Midgley still had hold of her neck.
She suffered a welt or abrasion which was bleeding and severe pain and swelling to her neck. There were injuries including bruising to various parts of her body.
The victim’s mother was present at the time as she had been staying with her daughter due to her concerns she had about Midgley’s behaviour in the days following their separation.
“As soon as he let go of her neck, she screamed for her mother to call police and ran from the house,” said Ms Morrison.
Handed himself in
A man who had dropped Midgley off at the property to collect his belongings had to physically restrain him to stop him getting at the victim as she fled.
Midgley, of Wilton Rise, Holgate, handed himself in at Fulford Road Police Station the following day and was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He admitted the offence and appeared for sentence on Tuesday (May 10).
Ms Morrison said that Midgley had moved in and out of the victim’s home during their on-off relationship and there had been previous police involvement, although there had been no physical violence until the incident on September 27 last year.
Midgley, who represented himself in court, said he was “thoroughly sorry” and that he was “absolutely devasted” at what he had done to his former partner.
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Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, described the attack as a “nasty, bad-tempered assault”.
He told Midgley: “You clutched your victim around her neck in front of her own mother, throttling her, pushing her against an ironing board, causing a nasty welt on her neck. People who throttle partners in their own home must expect a custodial sentence.”
Midgley was jailed for six months, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.