A terrified woman was left suffering nightmares about waking up and being unable to breathe after her heavy-drinking boyfriend strangled her during a violent confrontation. Michael Lock left the woman struggling to breathe after grabbing hold of her throat when a bad-tempered argument turned nasty, Hull Crown Court heard.
Lock, 50, admitted an offence of intentional strangulation in Beverley on June 22 last year. He originally denied the matters but later changed his plea.
Leila Taleb, prosecuting, said that Lock and the woman had been in a relationship for about two years. He had been drinking since the afternoon and went back to the woman’s home. “He carried on drinking during most of the day,” said Miss Taleb.
In the early hours of the next morning, he started snapping at the woman, saying that he did not know why he was with her and that he had “better banter” with other women. Lock followed the woman upstairs and she told him to be quiet.
He stormed downstairs and she asked him to leave. At the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed her throat and she could not breathe.
“He held it for a few seconds and she recalls feeling the pressure on her throat,” said Miss Taleb. He used both hands to strangle her.
She suffered scratches and reddening. “She felt shocked and was crying after the incident,” said Miss Taleb. “The incident continues to affect her. She doesn’t really go out any more and she doesn’t really trust people. She has nightmares about waking up and being unable to breathe.”
Lock drove off but was stopped by the police and was found to be drink-driving. He had been given 80 hours’ unpaid work for this at an earlier hearing before magistrates.
During police interview, Lock denied strangling the woman. He had convictions for 15 previous offences, including for violence.
Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said that Lock was keen to address his drinking and his decision-making skills. “The offending is in some ways entirely out of character,” said Mr Shipley.
Lock had previously worked as a highways supervisor, helping with roadside and highway maintenance and driving a vehicle, but his ban from driving for drink-driving had meant that he had been demoted to being a passenger. He had already completed 60 hours of the unpaid work.
Lock, of Holywell Grove, Castleford, was given a 14-day suspended prison sentence and 20 days’ rehabilitation.