'You’re going to take your last breath': Rampaging Leeds boyfriend strangled woman in terrifying attack

A violent Leeds boyfriend told his partner “you’re going to take your last breath” as he strangled her during a terrifying attack.

Mark Pankhurst, of no fixed abode, was jailed at Leeds Crown Court today after being found guilty of nine offences, including three of assault by beating, intentional strangulation and one of assault on an emergency worker.

Prosecutor Jordan Millican told the court how the 50-year-old and his girlfriend were staying at a caravan off Meanwood Road, when he awoke in a rage and began spitting and punching the woman, before strangling her.

The court heard how Pankhurst told the woman, “I’m going to kill you, you’re going to take your last breath,” during the terrifying attack and “at least I’ll go to prison for something decent.”

During a moment of distraction, the “petrified” woman was able to run from the van and hid in the nearby woods until police arrived, Mr Millican said.

He told the court how Pankhurst had a “history of abuse and violence towards the victim,” and was previously arrested for domestic assault after he punched the woman in the face during an incident on St Peter’s Square in Leeds city centre, six months prior.

Following his arrest on St Peter’s Square, Mr Millican told the court how the 50-year-old had become irate, shouting and screaming at officers, before launching into a tirade of “unforgivable” homophobic and racial slurs. He then slammed the cell door on one officer’s foot, causing injury.

Pankhurst met the victim a year previously in 2024 and had since subjected her to “physical and psychological assault,” the court was told.

During a third incident detailed to the court, the defendant became verbally aggressive and slapped the woman across the face on Briggate, before calling her a derogatory term and a “bad mum.”

In mitigation, defence counsel Ashleigh Metcalfe told Leeds Crown Court how her client had lived a “transient, chaotic and undesirable life” since the age of 17 and had spent much of his adult life going between custodial sentences.

Accepting that her client’s record was “beyond unenviable,” Ms Metcalfe told the court that the defendant was keen to break the cycle, and get a house and job upon his release and to reconnect with his adult child.

Passing sentence, Judge Ray Singh described Pankhurst as a “violent and aggressive domestic abuser,” and described his decision to contest the charges, forcing his victim to go through a trial as “another layer of abuse.”

He sentenced him to 27 months in prison, of which he is expected to serve half, and gave him a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from his victim.