A Whitehaven man who threatened to kill his partner during a prolonged and violent attack in her own home has been handed a prison sentence.
Carlisle Crown Court was told today how a neighbour called police after she was woken by loud banging and heard noises which suggested the woman was being assaulted.
The female could also be heard saying “please, no” and also: “You have been battering me for more than hour.”
When arrested, 30-year-old Luke Steele warned he was coming back for everyone.
In an interview, the woman reported that he had pulled her down stairs by the hair. “Clumps of hair were seen to be falling out as she was running her hands through it,” prosecutor Peter Wilson told the court.
Steele also strangled the woman, threatened “I will kill you” and “I will choke you out” and held scissors to her neck. The complainant stated that Steele made threats to her all the time and that on the night he had punched her and threatened to have her head stamped on.
Initially Steele claimed he hadn’t laid a finger on the woman and was incapable of lying due to a previous head injury.
However, that latter assertion was disproved by a medical expert and Steele, of Balmoral Road, Whitehaven, later admitted charges of assault by beating, threats to kill and possession of cannabis which was found after his arrest.
The court heard he had 49 previous offences with three convictions for past violence dating back to his time as a youth.
Sentencing judge, Recorder Julian Shaw, imposed an immediate 32-month prison sentence, and a three-year restraining order which bans Steele from having any contact with the woman.
“Your victim is vulnerable,” the judge told Steele. “She is a young lady attacked by you in her own home.”
