Preston man subjected mum to frightening three hour assault ordeal in Thornton

A man who violently assaulted a mum in a house as her children slept upstairs has been given a suspended jail term.
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Daniel Butler, 32, of The Ploughlands, Ashton, Preston, subjected his victim, with whom he had been in a four week relationship, to a terrifying three hour ordeal in her home in Thornton-Cleveleys.

After an evening of drinking alcohol and arguing, he turned violent, squeezing his hands around the victim's throat, kicking and punching her, and spitting in her face.

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During the incident he held a kitchen knife to her throat while saying: " I'll slash your throat, I don't care anymore."

Preston Crown CourtPreston Crown Court
Preston Crown Court

Butler smashed a mirror, punched a door in and thrust a knife into the fridge door, the court heard.

The sustained assault started at 5am on March 28, and only stopped when Butler, who had taken the woman's phone from her, fell asleep at 8am.

She was able to retrieve her phone and alert her dad and brother, who called the police.

She was left with a sore head and red mark on her face.

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Butler, who has 12 convictions for 21 offences, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage at Preston Crown Court.

Recorder Tom Gilbart, imposed eight months in jail, but suspended it to allow work to be done to address his offending.

As Butler had already been on remand for four months for a bail breach - the equivalent of an eight month term - he would have been released in a few days regardless.

Imposing 200 hours unpaid work and a curfew, he said: "You should be utterly ashamed of yourself to behave in this way, in a home, while children are present.

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"A child's home should be a place of safety for that child. Your behaviour was shameful.

"This was a sustained attack involving threats to kill."

The court was told the assault started when the woman said she wanted to go to bed. The defendant placed his right hand around her throat and his left over her mouth, and told her if she didn't shut up he would kill her.

At one point she had to comfort her one-year-old child who had woken, and tried to scream for help from a bedroom window.

Butler told her he would "hold her hostage" and make her sit in the attic with her children.

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She tried to fight back, punching his face and spitting back at him.

Defending, Paul Humphreys said he had also suffered injuries and added: "This was not all a one way incident, there were injuries sustained by both."

He also said the victim couldn't be terrified of him as she had provided his train fare to return to her home after he fell out with a relative he had been staying with while on bail.