Jealous partner threatened to cut ex's throat and beat her during controlling campaign

A jealous boyfriend who made his ex-partner's life a misery during a campaign of controlling behaviour has been jailed.

Leon Curran verbally abused the women and physically attacked her on at least two occasions.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 32-year-old even contacted his victim via bank transfers after she had blocked his contact number.

Prosecutor Andrew Espley said the pair got together in 2018 but their relationship was difficult from the beginning due to his jealous behaviour towards her.

During one argument at their home in 2022, Curran walked towards her and grabbed her by the throat.

He also attacked her on a separate occasion in a car following a shopping trip to ASDA in the presence of her grandfather.

Mr Espley said: "She reported two separate assaults to the police.

"Things went badly downhill when she became pregnant with her second child, their first together. That was in 2019.

"He became prescriptive about how she should behave and complained about her failing to complete things around the house.

"He was verbally aggressive and abusive during the Covid lockdown.

"He used abusive language towards her to make her think she couldn't do anything right.

"There were constant arguments because of his aggressive conduct."

Mr Espley told the court Curran attacked her in the living room by holding her throat and pushed her against a wall.

But whenever she brought it up with him afterwards he played it down.

Referring to the ASDA incident, Mr Espley said Curran was in the rear seat of their vehicle with the woman in the front when he began punching the back of her chair.

Her grandfather was in the passenger seat and he dragged Curran out of the car.

Mr Espley said Curran would remind the woman that his father left him at a young age and told her she wouldn't want their own children to grow up with split parents.

The couple eventually broke up in late 2023 and a non-molestation order was enforced to protect her from harassment.

However, he later contacted her, threatening to slit her throat, and sent pennies to her bank account with references asking her to unblock him.

She eventually did and met up with him to walk to a shop but during the trip he placed his hand around her neck again.

Curran, of Rowanberry Road, Newcastle, was arrested and pleaded guilty to coercive control, battery in relation to grabbing her neck after meeting up, and breaching the order.

Mr Recorder Toby Hedworth jailed Curran for two years but acknowledged he will be released sooner due to the time already spent in custody witing to be sentenced.

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John Crawford, defending, said: "Clearly this was a relationship that ended up bringing the worst in him.

"He has worked in the construction industry and is anxious, once this sentence had concluded, to get on with his life and return to that work."

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