Sheffield thug jailed after he throttled ex-partner and smashed bottle over man's head

Sheffield Crown Court heard on September 5 how Luke Craig Hodgson, aged 24, of Devonshire Drive, Dore, Sheffield, twice grabbed his ex-partner around the throat and went on to smash an acquaintance over the head with a bottle after Hodgson believed he had been talking to his former partner.

Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, said: “She said from the outset the relationship had been toxic and there were numerous situations where she had been grabbed around the throat and she felt he was controlling.”

Hodgson had shouted at his ex-partner at her mother’s home in November, last year, and he grabbed her by the throat, according to Mr Outhwaite. He then pursued her outside and grabbed her by the throat a second time, pinning her to a car in the street.

Mr Outhwaite added that Hodgson later sent threatening and insulting messages to his ex-partner via Facebook including a threat to “snap her nose”.

While Hodgson was on bail for these offences he accused an acquaintance of talking to his ex-partner, according to Mr Outhwaite, before he struck this man over the head with a Stella beer bottle three or four times until the bottle smashed.

Mr Outhwaite said Hodgson then punched this complainant six to eight times before the victim’s mother intervened and the defendant later sent threatening messages to this same complainant.

Hodgson, who has one previous conviction, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm committed in November, 2021, and in April, 2022, and he admitted two counts of sending threatening electronic communications.

The court also heard Hodgson had breached a previously imposed suspended prison sentence for a separate offence.

Defence barrister Ian West said: “This was particularly immature offending fuelled by alcohol and cocaine behaving in a poor and wholly unacceptable way.”

Mr West added Hodgson, who has been remanded in custody, had a difficult up-bringing but he wants to move away from his past life and keep away from drugs and alcohol.

Recorder Patrick Palmer sentenced Hodgson to two years of custody with a two-year restraining order to protect the complainants.