Exclusive:“I never thought he was evil, but I do now,” says abuse survivor attacked while her kids were at home
Domestic abuser was on bail for drug offences when he carried out horrific attack
“I never thought he was evil, but I do now,” a domestic abuse survivor said of her former partner, who beat her “black and blue” while their children were present in the house.
Jamie West was intoxicated on a cocktail of drink and drugs when he attacked his former partner at her home in a jealous rage.
After forcing her to the floor, West strangled the woman, restricting her breathing and causing her to fear for her life, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
“You were shouting that you would kill her, kicking her head and body,” Judge Hampton told West, of Addison Square, Dinnington, Rotherham.
The complainant rushed up to her bedroom and hid under covers, but West followed her and punched her nose, causing bleeding.
Judge Hampton continued: “I’ve seen the photos, it’s no exaggeration to say you beat her black and blue.”
The complainant said in a statement to the court: “I felt like I was taking my last breaths - and would have been had I not got him off me.
“I feel like I’m still in shock…I feel absolutely disgusted by what he's done.
“I never thought he was evil before, but I do now.”
Their children were present in the house, but there is no evidence to suggest they heard or saw the attack.
West, aged 38, was on bail for drug dealing at the time after police raided West’s home and found heroin and cocaine.
Prosecutor Richard Davies said the drugs would have yielded £5,530, if sold in “individual packages.”
Officers also seized around £580 in cash from West’s bedroom, along with tinfoil and mobile phones.
Judge Hampton said evidence recovered from West’s mobile phone showed he was “street dealing.”
West was on bail for both sets of offences when he terrorised a lone woman working the nightshift at a petrol station.
During the ordeal, which unfolded at around 1.30 in the morning, Mr Davies said West demanded the woman give him a bottle of vodka for free.
When she refused, he told her she had “f***ed it” and started threatening to ram the car he was driving “straight through the window.”
West began revving the engine of the car outside the filling station.
As she became fearful for her life, the woman ran from the hatch where she was working, at which point West jumped through and took a bottle of vodka.
West pleaded guilty to charges relating to all three sets of offences - assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threatening behaviour, theft, possessing with intent to supply drugs.
Defending, Eugene Cross told the court that West is “remorseful.”
West, he said, has caring responsibilities for a number of people in his life, and would most likely lose his council accommodation should he be sent straight to custody.
Jailing West for four years, Judge Hampton acknowledged there had been a four to five year delay in the case, but said it was mainly down to West and his initial denials.
“You should not receive a windfall through it,” Judge Hampton said, adding: “Only a custodial sentence can be justified.”
There are a number of support services that can assist survivors of domestic abuse, and other victims of crime.
- Call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or Victim Support’s supportline on 0808 1689 111.