Woman broke thug boyfriend's nose when he tried to strangle her for talking to man in Leeds bar

Daniel Crawford made comments to the woman after she stopped to speak to a man she knew in Brooklyn Bar on Call Lane during a night out.

The couple had been with friends, but due to Crawford’s change in mood, they decided to get a taxi back to the woman’s home in Harehills, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Crawford continued to sulk and accused the female of cheating on him. When they got home the woman went to the bathroom but Crawford followed her and forced his way in by kicking the door open. He attacked her and grabbed her by the throat and squeezed it.

The woman said she felt dizzy but managed to get out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where he followed her again, pinning her down on the bed by the throat. She tried to fight him off and ended up breaking his nose by punching him, prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari told the court.

The couple with whom they had been drinking tried to intervene and Crawford eventually let go. He left the house but tried to come back in, kicking the door in. But with the police on the way, he left again and was later found hiding in a nearby garden.

The 32-year-old gave a no-comment interview to police. He eventually admitted intentional strangulation and criminal damage. He has been remanded in custody since the incident on February 12.

Crawford, formerly of Aysgarth Place, East End Park, has 26 previous convictions for 52 offences, including burglaries, domestic violence against women and rape. He was only released from custody in November of last year.

Mitigating, Kara Frith said about his most recent offending: “He has taken full responsibility for what he did, there’s no attempt to minimise. He does appear to be genuinely focussed on change and wanted to plead guilty.

"He recognises that alcohol has always been a significant factor in his offending, and he is ashamed of that.”

Judge Rodney Jameson KC handed him a 26-month jail term and said: “There has been previous violence in this relationship and strangulation in a previous relationship. This was quite a prolonged incident.”