A domestic abuser left his ex-partner battling an eating disorder after subjecting her to a campaign of violence and controlling behaviour.
Curtis Hughes violently attacked the mother of his two children on multiple occasions and even threatened to burn her house down after she tried to end their relationship. The 24-year-old slammed a door in her face, smashed up her belongings and threatened to kill her, leaving her terrified.
The woman was left so scared of Hughes, she dropped six dress sizes after living on a diet of painkillers and Red Bull due to his abuse. She said Hughes had “robbed” her of her happiness and had “taken everything” from her.
On Thursday, Hughes, of Redhills Way, Hetton-le-Hole, appeared at Durham Crown Court via link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for controlling and coercive behaviour, criminal damage, stalking, intimidation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault. He had pleaded guilty to the offences.
The court heard that the pair had been in a relationship for around three years and had two children together. But the relationship was marred by violence, with the victim stating she was assaulted by Hughes “multiple times”.
Martin Towers, prosecuting, said that Hughes committed the first set of offences between July 2022 and December 2023 in the Newcastle area. He said: “[The victim] was assaulted multiple times and her phone was damaged. [In one incident] the defendant punched her in the face after she crashed a car.”
On September 4, 2023, Hughes assaulted her when she tried to end the relationship when she discovered he had been cheating on her. She resorted to biting him so he would stop. In December of that year, the relationship had ended, but Hughes approached her and punched her in the head and chest before smashing her bedroom up.
A day later, he sent her a Facebook message where he pestered her about going to jail and whether or not she was going to provide a statement to police. Mr Towers said: “He then sent her a video of him in a car wearing a balaclava saying ‘you will see me soon’.”
The next set of offences were carried out between May and August last year in the Durham area, the court heard. During that time Hughes stalked the woman and subjected her to further violence.
Mr Towers said: “He sent her a message threatening to burn her house and her mum’s house down. He phoned her threatening to come round her house and kill her and put a truck through her mum’s house and set it alight.” The court heard that in another terrifying incident, Hughes filmed himself in the woman’s home after causing damage.
On May 24, the woman returned home and was confronted by Hughes, who dragged her out of her car and into her house. Mr Towers said: “He assaulted her by slamming a door in her face, causing bruising to her nose. He then took out a knife and made threats he was going to harm himself and drew blood.”
The court heard that Hughes also stamped on her phone, smashing it, before kicking in the windscreen of her mother’s car, laughing and then fleeing. On August 16, Hughes also put a brick through the windows of the Queen’s Head pub in Gilesgate, causing £880 worth of damage. He then confessed to the criminal damage in a video sent to his ex-partner.
In a victim statement, the woman said Hughes had “robbed her of her happiness” and had “taken everything from me”. She said: “He abused me so much I have an eating disorder and lost a lot of weight. I was living on pain killers and Red Bull.” She added she dropped from a size 12 to a size six.
The court was told Hughes had 12 previous offences on his record, including battery and threats to kill. They were also committed against a former partner.
Katie Spence, defending, said Hughes displays a “level of immaturity” and has “a lot of growing up to do”. She said he is supported by his family, some of whom had attended court.
She said: “He is disappointed in himself and knows there are people he’s let down. He’s disgusted in himself and this has been a reality check.”
Miss Spence said Hughes was experiencing his first time in prison and was mentoring younger inmates. She added he hopes to have his own property maintenance business upon being released from prison.
Judge Nathan Adams said Hughes posed a “significant danger to partners” and jailed him for 54 months.
Join our Court & Crime WhatsApp community
Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp community for all the latest court and crime news sent direct to your phone.
In this private group, you can expect the day’s top court and crime stories, including breaking news and live blogs
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, affiliate content, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/domestic-abuser-left-partner-eating-31142755
