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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
David Huntley & Graeme Murray

Controlling boyfriend burned woman's face with cigarette and stopped her seeing kids

A controlling boyfriend burned a woman's face with a cigarette and stopped her from seeing her kids.

Jake Foot threatened to kill her and during stormy relationship burned her face with the lit cigarette.

When the pair's relationship ended he was arrested before he began another and was also violent and abusive to a separate woman.

Foot, 25, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday, via a video link from HMP Durham.

He was then sentenced for two counts of controlling or coercive behaviour.

ChronicleLive reports that Foot entered into a relationship with a woman from Sunderland and later moved in with her.

Teesside Crown and County Court in Durham (PA Archive/PA Images)

Ian West, prosecuting said the accused was a "user of cannabis", but became "paranoid and jealous" when he couldn't get hold of any and "arguments would arise".

Foot believed his girlfriend was speaking to other people on Facebook, and arguments soon turned into violence.

Mr West said Foot threw a Coke bottle at the woman and then went on to smash her mobile phone.

The court heard that Foot would "punch doors" and even "stabbed a door with a knife".

But "things took a turn for the worst" when Foot grabbed the woman by the throat and "threatened to kill her".

Mr West said the woman believed she was going to die, but managed to flee.

Following the incident, Foot flicked a lit cigarette in her face, causing burns.

Foot would also "frequently" take the woman's house keys and lock her in her home to "stop her meeting other people".

The woman also had children from a previous relationship, but Foot threatened her, telling her to "say goodbye to your kids because you're not seeing them anymore" before smashing her phone.

Mr West said that after his violent outbursts, he would apologise and "get upset", but he was "not sincere".

On July 22, last year, the woman bought a new phone, and Foot asked to use it so he could buy trainers.

But instead, he went through her phone and found pictures of her children with their dad.

Foot became so angry at this, he smashed the phone and punched her in the face, the court heard.

The incident led the woman, who suffers from depression and anxiety, to self-harm.

The day after, Foot "trashed" her home, causing her to tell a family member about his behaviour.

Foot was then arrested and he was released under investigation.

But during this time, Foot then went on to form another relationship with a woman, which "went very much the same way".

The relationship was "peppered with assaults" and Foot even ripped her earring out, tearing her ear.

He also "held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her" before telling her he would have raped her if she "wasn't fat and ugly".

Mr West said Foot also carried out an assault on her while they were on a bus together.

David Callan, defending, said Foot had "no excuse for this behaviour" and was "sorry for what has happened".

He added Foot, of Ashwood Avenue, Sunderland, was remorseful and had had a "bad start in life".

Judge Ray Singh jailed Foot for 45 months and made him subject of a five year restraining order.

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