Face of despicable domestic abuser from Sheffield who believes he is "entitled" to attack romantic partners
“There seems to be a sense of entitlement to use violence against women you are with”
A despicable domestic abuser who believes he is “entitled” to attack his romantic partners has been jailed for subjecting his ex to a campaign of violence and stalking.
Lee Haigh, aged 46, left the complainant terrified after stalking her and making a series of chilling threats.
They included telling his victim he would enjoy squeezing the life out of her and threatening to kill her in front of her children.
Despite this, Haigh was still given a second chance when the 18-month prison sentence passed down for offences of stalking and malicious communication was suspended for two years.
Haigh threw that chance away just two months later in order to continue terrorising the complainant, Sheffield Crown Court heard during a September 11, 2026 hearing.
Detailing the two serious assaults which followed, Judge Sarah Wright told Haigh: “You became aggressive…grabbed her by the throat. When she lay on the floor, you kicked her with a shod foot.
“Two months later, you were being verbally abusive. You pinned her down, struck her three times…held a dressing gown over her head and punched her in the eye.”
In a devastating statement to the court, the complainant said Haigh’s behaviour had “shattered” the bubbly, loving person she was before they met, after being made to endure years of control and abuse.
She said that before their relationship began she did not understand why people stayed with abusive partners.
Haigh’s behaviour has caused her to realise that when you are “face to face with someone who claims to love and care for you” you hold out hope they can “return back to the person you love so much,” the complainant said.
Haigh, of Oxspring Bank, Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the first day of his trial.
Judge Wright jailed Haigh for 37 months over the two assaults, and activated his 18-month suspended sentence, bringing his total sentence to one of 55 months’ imprisonment.
She told Haigh: “You have shown very little victim empathy. You seem to think it’s acceptable to exert power over the women you are in a relationship with.
“There seems to be a sense of entitlement to use violence against women you are with.”
Defending, Sam Jones told the court that Haigh had a difficult childhood, involving domestic violence, leading to an alcohol dependency which has plagued him for more than a quarter of a century.
Mr Jones said Haigh has become alcohol free during the year he has spent in custody on remand, during which he has also undergone courses and has worked to become a prison mentor.
Judge Wright also granted a 10-year restraining order.