A man throttled his partner to the point where she was struggling to breathe and her cruel attacker asked if she wanted him to kill her. Lee Hurlow then went to play with his phone "as if nothing had happened" and refused to leave the woman's house, forcing her to flee her own home to get away from him.
The assault happened in breach of a restraining order banning him from contacting the woman. Swansea Crown Court heard that after serving his prison sentence 46-year-old Hurlow wants to go back to living with his mother and to return to his work as a gardener.
Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said Hurlow had been made the subject of a restraining order in November last year after assaulting his partner but despite that the relationship between them had continued. He said on April 25 this year the pair started arguing while at the woman's house and the woman asked him to leave but he refused.
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The prosecutor said the woman spent the next two hours "trying to calm the defendant down" before Hurlow grabbed her by the throat with both hands and threw her onto the bed. The defendant continued to hold his partner around the neck to the point where she was struggling to breathe before asking her if she wanted him to kill her. The woman replied: "Just do it."
The court heard Hurlow then released his grip on the woman and began playing with his phone "as if nothing had happened". The woman again asked the defendant to leave her Treboeth home but he refused and eventually the victim had to leave her own home. The couple then communicated via texts with Hurlow sending a number of threatening messages including one which read: "I will f****** kill you, dull girl". The prosecutor said the woman was too scared to returned to her home and called the police. Hurlow was arrested later that day at his mother's house
In a statement which was read to the court by the prosecutor the victim said she suffered with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder and her experiences at the hands of Hurlow had had a massive impact on her life and left her feeling continually on edge and vulnerable.
Lee Anthony Hurlow, of Robert Owen Gardens, Port Tennant, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation, sending a threatening message, and breaching a restraining order when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has six previous convictions for 10 offences. In October last year he was given a suspended prison sentence and made the subject of a restraining order after assaulting his partner during an argument and then sending her threatening messages in which he said he was "coming for her" and her family.
Huw Davies, for Hurlow, said the defendant had asked him to convey to the court that he was ashamed of his behaviour towards his victim and of the words he had used. He said after he is released from the custodial sentence he is facing his client wanted to return to living with his mother and return to his work as a gardener.
With a 20% discount for his guilty pleas Hurlow was sentenced to 18 months in prison comprising 16 months for the strangulation offence, two months for sending threatening messages to run consecutively, and two months for breach of a restraining order to run concurrently. Judge Paul Thomas KC also sentenced Hurlow to two months for breaching the previously-imposed suspended sentence to be served consecutively with the 18 months making an overall sentence of 20 months. The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The existing two-year restraining order was extended by an additional two years.
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