Wife feared for life when controlling husband deliberately crashed car at Tingley roundabout Leeds Crown Court told

A wife feared for her life when her controlling husband deliberately crashed their car into a roundabout in Leeds,  a court heard.
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David Graham" floored" the Volvo S40 before it crashed into a wall and tree at Tingley roundabout and rolled over a number of times before ending up on its roof.

Leeds Crown Court heard Graham had subjected his wife to ten-months of controlling and coercive behaviour before the crash on the A653 Dewsbury Road at Tingley on October 2 2019.

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Self-employed builder Graham, 33, was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after his father died in a fall while working on a job reroofing a house in Leeds for him.

the roundabout on the A653 Dewsbury Road at Tingleythe roundabout on the A653 Dewsbury Road at Tingley
the roundabout on the A653 Dewsbury Road at Tingley

Graham, of Broomfield Crescent, Headingley, was with his father when he fell through a covered up skylight hole into the empty deep end of a swimming pool in September 2017.

Graham started using illicit drugs along with prescribed medication following the tragedy and his life deteriorated, the court was told.

Laura Addy, prosecuting, said Graham, a father-of-three, spent £10,000 on drugs over a five or six month period after his father's death.

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Miss Addy said between December 2018 and October, he subjected his wife to coercive and controlling behaviour after he said she wanted to split up.

He imposed restrictions and rules on where she could drive and who she could visit and would take her keys to stop her going out.

Over Easter 2019, Graham's wife broke her foot in an accident at home and had to beg Graham for around 30 minutes to take her to hospital.

Miss Addy said: "He shouted at her and belittled her, and said how much of an inconvenience she had been to him."

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Miss Addy said Graham's wife applied to join the fire service, but Graham told her: "You are a woman - you can't join the firemen. You are not good enough."

Miss Addy added: "She felt worthless following the withdrawal of that application."

Miss Addy said on October 2, Graham and his wife were at a doctor's appointment for him in Selby when she again told him she wanted to split up before the couple travelled home.

Miss Addy said Graham's wife "feared for her life" and as they approached Tingley roundabout when Graham "floored it" and deliberately accelerated towards the roundabout before crashing into a wall surrounding it and then into a tree.

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Miss Addy said: "The car must have lifted off the ground. She remembers the car turning over and rolling before coming to a rest upside down."

Graham's wife suffered internal bruising but was not seriously injured.

Graham admitted controlling and coercive behaviour and dangerous driving.

Mark Foley, mitigating, said Graham was on high doses of diazepam along with illicit drugs.

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Mr Foley disputed that Graham had spent £10,00 on drugs and said some cash was spent buying his wife a BMW car and on a family holiday.

Mr Foley said: "This is a man who is hardworking and without the tragedy that occured, this offence, I submit, would not have happened."

The court heard Graham has already spent eight months in prison on remand - the equivalent of a 16-month prison sentence.

Sentencing Graham to a 16-month prison sentence, Judge Mushtaq Khokar told him: "It means you will be released shortly from custody."

Judge Khokar imposed a ten-year restraining order.