Lee Wood: Twisted domestic abuser strangled partner, put blade to her throat and said 'I could kill you'

In a chilling statement given to police, the former partner of defendant, Lee Wood, described how the prolonged campaign of abuse he subjected her to made her believe she was going to die; and question whether it was worth fighting to survive during one of his attempts to strangle her.

Summarising the woman’s statement, prosecutor, Zaiban Alma told a March 30 hearing: “She said she was past fighting, and thought she may as well let him do it because she couldn’t take it any more.”

Ms Alam said this strangulation attempt took place between January 13 and January 29, 2023, when Wood, aged 45, suddenly grabbed the complainant by the throat with one hand, while pinning her to the bed with the other.

“He started strangling her and she was struggling to breathe, she thought she was going to pass out. He got out a little paper packet and came back towards her, jumped straight back on top of her. He made sure she got a good look at it [the razor blade] before putting it to her neck and said: ‘I could kill you’.”

Wood carried out another, very similar attack on the complainant on the evening of January 27, 2023. Ms Alam told the court that in the hours before inflicting more violence upon the complainant he had been ‘going on at her,’ after she told him she had recently spent time with a male friend.

“At about 8pm she decided to go to bed to get away from him…he came into the bedroom and started by pushing her while she was laid on her bed. She says he pushed her so hard she fell off the bed.

“He punched her to the ribs, and threw her keys at her which hit her on the face,” Ms Alam said.

Wood subsequently went into the kitchen to get a knife, and proceeded to pin and straddle the complainant before holding the knife to her throat, and attempting to strangle her, the court heard.

Ms Alam described how during the course of the incident, Wood also kicked the complainant ‘four to five times’ while she was on her hands and knees on the floor after she fell while attempting to flee; threw two coffee tables, one of which hit her, and smashed a lamp previously owned by the complainant’s ‘deceased mother’.

“He knew it was a sentimental item,” said Ms Alam.

The complainant managed to retrieve the keys and attempted to flee the property, along with her dog, the court heard.

“She saw him hold the knife to his throat, saw him hold the knife to his wrist area, moving it backwards and forwards on his own skin, and as he did so he said he was going to kill himself,” Ms Alam said.

Wood took the complainant’s mobile telephone during the course of the struggle, and she went to her sister’s property a short distance away, and the police were called.

Wood, of The Hollins, Barnsley, was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, charges including intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage at an earlier hearing.

Defending, Dale Harris, said Wood and the complainant had been in a relationship for some six years, adding that Wood had been ‘free’ of an opiate addiction for some 18 years, ‘but relapsed shortly before these incidents’.

Mr Harris said a ‘concoction’ of diazepam tablets that Wood took prior to inflicting violence on the complainant and ‘clearly affected his behaviour’.

“He clearly lost his sense of control and his sense of morality because had he not had that he would not have acted in the way he did,” Mr Harris continued.

As he sent Wood to begin a three-year prison sentence, Judge Peter Kelson KC said he regarded the previous convictions Wood has for violence inflicted against former partners to be a ‘severely aggravating’ factor.

Judge Kelson said he agreed with the prosecution’s assertion that the complainant had ‘suffered serious psychological harm’ as a result of Wood’s offending.

Speaking after Wood was jailed, Police Constable Jade Mills, from Barnsley’s Domestic Abuse team, said: “Domestic abuse can cause physical, emotional and psychological harm and I want to commend the victim for taking the courageous step to report the significant abuse she was subjected to by Wood.

“Often victims of domestic abuse live in fear behind closed doors, scared to come forward, which is why we’re committed to bringing those responsible to justice.

“There are a number of ways you can seek advice and support, especially if you are worried about approaching the police directly. There is the Bright Sky app, which provides information and support as well as a UK-wide directory of support agencies. Our website also has numbers and contact information for the agencies we work with here in South Yorkshire, as well as details of how to use the Silent Solution in an emergency.”

Find out more here: https://www.southyorks.police.uk/find-out/advice-for-victims/domestic-abuse/