A violent and controlling bully was turned into a “monster” by his heavy use of crack cocaine – and his “horrendous” behaviour left his ex-girlfriend living a “nightmare” and feeling that she had become “a shell of a woman”.
Bad-tempered and aggressive Hugo Smith continually demanded money so that he could buy drugs and he assaulted and strangled her during explosive outbursts of temper. He also held a lighter to her face and threatened to burn her alive, Hull Crown Court heard.
Smith, 36, of 21st Avenue, north Hull, admitted offences of intentional strangulation and using controlling and coercive behaviour.
Amber Hobson, prosecuting, said that Smith and the woman were in an initially very positive relationship spanning seven years but his behaviour changed and the relationship came to an end in spring 2023. After that, his poor behaviour escalated and he relied on crack cocaine.
He became homeless and the woman would sometimes take pity on him and allow him to stay overnight but, when she refused, he would break into an outhouse. When she refused to hand over money, he pushed her and punched her in her eye, causing bruises.
On October 11 last year, the woman told Smith that he would have to leave but he became angry and made threats. “The defendant took hold of her by her shoulders and pushed her into a kitchen door, causing her to bang her head,” said Miss Hobson.
Smith bit her on her face, breaking the skin. He was bailed by police not to contact her but, on October 20, he went to her home and kicked her door. She opened the door and he went in but refused to leave.
The woman went outside and sat on a bench but Smith held a lighter to her face and threatened to burn her alive. In the early hours of the next day, Smith refused to leave the house and he asked for money for crack cocaine.
She told him to leave but he became aggressive and took hold of her. He wrestled her to the floor and broke items including a phone and a vape. He headbutted her, kicked her on the leg and used his knee to put pressure on her neck, restricting her breathing.
The woman managed to push him off her and she punched him in the face to defend herself. “Undeterred, he continued to assault her,” said Miss Hobson. Smith picked up a knife. She called the police and he was arrested.
The woman later said that she finally found the strength to call the police but, before this, she had been living in a “nightmare” because of the abuse. “I became a shell of a woman and a shell of myself,” she said.
“People around me didn’t recognise me. I felt like I was trapped. He would control everything. I feel I am stuck in a vicious cycle. I am not sleeping and I am not eating. I am relieved to have him out of my life.”
Smith had convictions for eight previous offences but none for violence. He was in breach of an 18-month suspended prison sentence imposed on August 16 last year for dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, having no insurance and driving while over the legal limit for cocaine on August 6, 2022.
Chloe Pinches, mitigating, said that Smith was lightly convicted and it was the first time that he had been in custody. “This has been a huge wake-up call for him,” said Miss Pinches.
“He realises that this has cost him everything. He just simply lost it.” He had shown genuine remorse and pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial. He had suffered a drug addiction for two years but had been clean of them for six months.
Recorder Marco Giuliani branded Smith’s behaviour “horrendous” and said that drugs had “turned him into a monster”. He told Smith: “You foolishly sought to seek succour in illegal drugs and, in particular, cocaine.
“Rather than assisting, it’s very clear that the cocaine completely destroyed your approach to life. It turned you into what has been described as a monster. You became appalling in your behaviour towards her.”
Smith was jailed for four years and two months. The sentence included a consecutive one year for breaching the suspended sentence. He was given a 12-year restraining order.