A violent thug who repeatedly attacked his partner and strangled her – leaving her unable to breath for 30 seconds – has been jailed.
Ryan Parkes, 26, placed his hands around his victim’s throat and “squeezed tight” after an argument, before letting go to stamp on her ear. During another row, at a sports facility in Marton, Parkes punched his girlfriend “four or five times in the face.”
Teesside Crown Court has heard that Parkes has a history of violence against a previous partner and on Tuesday, a judge branded him, “a dangerous person to be in a relationship with at the moment, until you learn to grow up and control your temper.”
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Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, told the court that the couple had got together in February 2022, and that there had been reports made to the police. But Parkes’ girlfriend “withdrew her support meaning the police were unable to take anything further.”
The prosecutor said Parkes carried out his first assault at 2.30am on January 18 after a row broke out.
“He stood over his victim on the bed and placed two hands around her neck and squeezed tight,” said Mr Soppitt, adding that Parkes had previously threatened to kill his partner by strangling her; and that when he let go of her neck, he stamped on her right ear.
By February, the couple had separated after Parkes’ girlfriend said she found messages showing he had been contacting a 16-year-old.
“He left but he took her bus pass, and she wanted it back,” Mr Soppitt said. “When she went to where he was staying, he punched her straight in the mouth, bursting her lip open. She screamed and ran away.”
Days later, Parkes met his estranged girlfriend at a sports centre in Marton and punched her repeatedly, in public. The woman was left with a lump on her forehead and bruising around her eyes.
Six days later, the couple had reconciled, but during another argument, Parkes grabbed his girlfriend’s throat leaving her unable to breathe. The court heard that the strangulation lasted for 30 seconds.
The victim managed to get a non-molestation order, but Parkes ignored it by calling her and saying: “You think you’re clever, getting a non-molestation order. What’s going to happen to your house now?”
On March 17, she was woken up by objects being thrown at her bedroom window. Mr Soppitt said that three men, dressed in black, were outside shouting: “Get out, get out!.”
The woman said that the violence had left her struggling with her mental health, and that she didn’t return to her job as a care assistant, because she didn’t want people to see her injuries.
Parkes, of Collin Avenue, Saltersgill, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to:
- assault occasioning actual bodily harm;
- intentional strangulation;
- threatening to damage property.
He has 28 convictions for 52 offences, including stalking.
John Nixon, mitigating, said that his client, “plainly has problems with relationships. One hopes that in prison there are courses that will give him strategies to avoid these situations in the future.”
Judge Christopher Smith told Parkes: “This is an ugly catalogue of domestic violence. You have significant problems with controlling your temper and this can be seen in the physical violence that you subject your partners to.
“Make no mistake, if you squeeze the neck of another person, the risks of causing permanent brain damage, or worse, are high. It is a terrifying thing to subject your partner to.”
Parkes was jailed for three-years and was made the subject of a 10-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his victim.
The judge said that he will serve approximately half of the sentence before he can be released on licence.
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