Jail for domestic abuser 'too drunk' to remember throttling girlfriend

Despite pleading guilty to the two charges of intentional strangulation, Daniel Currie, 26, told a probation officer that he had drunk so much on each occasion that he could not remember assaulting his partner.

Oxford Crown Court heard that the first incident saw him grab the woman by the neck. She was unable to scream for help, she said. Currie stopped suddenly, hugged his victim and claimed he loved her.

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The second, committed two months later on October 4 last year, began with him dragging his victim towards her bedroom then putting his hand on her throat and squeezing for an estimated 20 seconds.

His bullying violence and verbal abuse continued. He called her names before he put his arm across her neck and applied pressure to her throat.

In her statement, summarised by prosecutor Mike Hollis, the victim said she thought he wanted to ‘scare’ her. “I felt like I was going to die,” she said.

The matters were reported to the police when they came to her home – staff accommodation linked to her work as a groom – and she broke down and described her months of controlling domestic abuse at the hands of Currie.

Currie, of Woodway Road, Blewbury, pleaded guilty on the morning of his trial last month to two counts of intentional strangulation. He maintained his denials to another charge, of controlling and coercive behaviour, which was not pursued to trial by the Crown Prosecution Service.

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A victim personal statement spoke of the enduring impact of the relationship and how after preparing herself to give evidence at the trial, felt ‘robbed of my opportunity to say my side in front of him’.

Mr Hollis, prosecuting, said the defendant had a previous conviction from Victoria, Australia, for assault. As part of the sentence, he was ordered to go on a ‘men’s behaviour change’ course.

Sentencing, judge Recorder John Bate-Williams said of the antipodean scheme: “It does not seem to have been very effective.”

The offences were so serious that only a prison sentence was appropriate, he added. “Domestic abuse can, it is widely recognised, inflict lasting trauma on victims and is, as here, seldom a one-off incident.”

He imposed 21 months’ imprisonment, with Currie eligible for release once he has served half of his sentence behind bars.

In mitigation, it was said that Currie regretted what he had done. At the time, he had struggled with drinking and was involved in a drug-fuelled party lifestyle.

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