Controlling Leeds thug denied partner food and beat her with a broom handle

Mohammed Razwan was so controlling he would reset her phone, banned her from messaging friends and family, and attacked her regularly – throwing her down the stairs when she was pregnant and beating her with a broken broom handle.

Leeds Crown Court was told that the woman even had to secretly hand deliver a letter to her family so Razwan would not find out.

In a heartfelt victim statement read out to the court by prosecutor Sam Roxborough, she said she had developed a stutter and regular headaches from the beatings, and was afraid to leave the house.

She said: “I’m a shadow of the person I once was. I hope one day I can do the things I once loved. I’m so scared he will come for me, hurt me and won’t stop. I’m scared what the future holds.

“He is a very angry man and can’t control his anger at all. He is dangerous. I never thought I would get out alive.”

The couple had been in an “on/off relationship” for more than 11 years. In 2013 Razwan was convicted of assaulting her by pushing he down the stairs when she was pregnant with their child, striking her and grabbing her face.

She took a non-molestation order out on Razwan to keep him away. But in 2016 their relationship was “rekindled”, Mr Roxborough said.

But it quickly turned sour and he then began making threats, demanding to see her phone and accusing her of seeing other men.

He would reset her phone to factory settings so nothing could be saved and would delete numbers of friends and even her parents. If she was out on her own, he would ring and message constantly.

On another occasion he made her buy a takeaway but would not let her eat any, instead making her watch him eat. She would rarely leave the house, but risked going to her parents’ home to drop a letter through their door to apologise for her behaviour.

In April 2021 she tried to leave, but Razwan came home before she had chance to get out, throwing her on the floor and telling her: “You are not leaving.”

He then snapped a broom handle and struck her repeatedly. During another incident he attacked her when they went shopping at Crown Point, punching her to the face, then refused to take her to hospital, telling her: “I know your game.”

He was eventually arrested in March of last year, but denied all allegations, even telling officers that she was controlling and attacked him.

Razwan, age 34 of Aviary Terrace, Armley, eventually admitted coercive control and assault. He has four convictions for five offences, including an assault on a previous partner.

Mitigating, Imran Khan said: “He very much care and loved his family but went the wrong way about it. He accepts what he did was wrong and is very sorry.”

Judge Ray Singh jailed him for 32 months, and gave him an indefinite-length restraining order to keep him away from the woman.

He told him: “You promised you were a changed individual but you controlled every aspect of her life.”