Fleetwood dad punched and strangled 17-year-old daughter in drug-fuelled rage

Joseph Langley, 40, was found not guilty of assaulting a woman at Blackpool Magistrates Court on July 23 2020. He then went out drinking to celebrate, before returning to his Walmsley Street home in Fleetwood and attacking his 17-year-old daughter in the early hours of July 24.

The teenager was left with two black eyes, scratches to her neck and bruises to her arms and legs following the brutal 20-minute assault.

Langley, who is also known as Rick, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm (ABH) to his daughter at a Preston Crown Court hearing on Thursday, September 1.

The court heard that Langley had been out drinking at a local pub on the night of the attack.

He returned home drunk and fell asleep on the sofa where his daughter was playing FIFA on the X-Box.

She told The Gazette: "He came home and he was drunk and on drugs. I'm pretty sure he was on drugs that night. He came home with his mate and had a fight with him, and then he went to sleep on the couch.

"He woke up half an hour later and went upstairs. He came back downstairs and said something about a bag being on the floor, though there wasn't anything there. He started getting in my face, and then he just started punching me."

A struggle broke out between the pair, during which Langley beat the girl with cushions and put his hands around her neck, the court heard.

"I was trying to kick him off me. Because he was close, I was managing to push him away with my feet. He just kept coming back at me," his daughter said.

"He got a cushion from the back of the sofa and started whacking me with that. Then he pulled me up off the chair by my hair and strangled me, and pushed me up against the wall with his hand around my throat. Then it was just more punches, and I don't know what happened after that."

Eventually, the girl managed to escape the flat and reported the incident to her mother, who called the police.

Langley initially denied the assault, but changed his plea at the last minute. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

His daughter said she suffered from anxiety and depression which had worsened since the attack at the hands of her father.

"If I think about it, it makes me angry because he tried to make out he didn't do it at first. It was like he was trying to get away with it," she said.

"I thought i was really close with him, although I only saw him once every other month. But I looked up to him. I thought he was perfect - but then I realised.

"At first I was struggling with whetherI should carry on seeing him and whether he was really sorry. But I know now that he's not. I can't ever forgive him for it."