A thug who attacked a woman has become one of the first in the country to be jailed for the offence of non-fatal strangulation.
Michael Strange, 33, of Nortonwood Lane, Windmill Hill, Runcorn, was sent down at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court in Warrington last Monday. He pleaded guilty on the day to intentional strangulation, criminal damage, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).
All three charges were committed against the same woman the day before the hearing, on Sunday, July 17. Strange was sentenced to 52 weeks in prison, and banned from contacting or approaching his victim or entering a named street.
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Court papers said the “nasty assault” was an “unprovoked attack of a serious nature”, adding Strange had previous convictions.
He received 12 months in prison instead of 18 months due to his guilty pleas at the first opportunity.
The charge of intentional non-fatal strangulation came into force on June 7.
Previously, strangling a victim did not form an offence of its own and was instead treated as part of a more general type of assault.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison when dealt with by magistrates and of five years in the upper courts.
A Government policy paper published online said the charge was created under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 as an amendment to the Serious Crime Act 2015.
It followed calls from the campaign groups We Can’t Consent to This (WCCTT) and the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) in April 2020 for a free-standing offence of non-fatal strangulation or asphyxiation.
The request was “strongly supported” by domestic abuse and victims’ commissioners and charities around England and Wales.
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