A BULLY strangled his partner leaving her unable to see or breathe while there were children in the house.

Lee Peake also punched the victim as she tried to escape him before pinning her down on the floor with his knee.

The 33-year-old appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Prosecuting, Jamie Baxter said the incident happened back in March 2022.

He said the pair had been in a relationship, which had "significantly deteriorated" for around eight years and shared two children together.

It was heard how on the day of the offence which happened in Warrington, Peake, of Leigh, lost his temper over something small.

Peake punched the victim around four or five times while she tried to get away from him, causing her to crouch down.

Mr Baxter explained that while the victim was crouched down, Peake put his knee to her chest and pinned her down against the back door.

He then put his arms around her neck and strangled her to such an extent that besides not being able to breathe, her vision became blurry and she could see black spots.

Liverpool Crown Court was told how both children were present in the house at the time, with one of them entering the room ‘in extreme distress’ while the incident was taking place.

The child began screaming, causing Peake to stop the attack.

In a victim impact statement, Peake’s ex-partner spoke of the impact his offending has had on her.

She said she struggles to sleep, feels paranoid, and doesn’t like leaving the house in case she sees him or anyone he knows.

Peake has three previous convictions for three offences – one of which he was serving a community order for at the time of the ABH incident.

Leigh Journal:

The defendant’s barrister spoke of how his client has now demonstrated awareness of his underlying problems, including his drug and alcohol misuse.

He said that Peake is motivated to address the causes of his behaviour.

Concluding, Recorder Katie Jones said: “Your assault only stopped when your young daughter came into the room in a state of extreme distress and began to scream.

“This allowed the victim to get you off her. She believed that if your daughter had not come in at that time, you would have not got off her.

“All in all, this was a disgraceful and extremely frightening incident.

“This is an extremely serious offence, in my judgement.

“Strangulation causes a risk of catastrophic injury or even death.”

But Recorder Jones said she was ‘just about’ persuaded to suspend the sentence due to the recent change in Peake’s attitude and his motivation to change.

He received a 24-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Peake must also complete the Building Better Relationships Programme as well as 200 hours of unpaid work.

And he must comply with a 10-year retraining order.