Cocaine thug held Leeds woman's head under water during terrifying assault
A thug has been jailed after he subjected his ex partner to a terrifying ordeal, holding her head under water in her kitchen sink.
Joshua Webster was high on drink and cocaine when he attacked the woman twice in the space of a few days, Leeds Crown Court heard.
The 35-year-old, who has more than 50 previous convictions was jailed this week.
The court heard their relationship ended in February 2023 but on March 3 this year he went to her home in Beeston and let himself in with a key he still had.
He was “under the influence”, prosecutor Nathan Davies said, and confronted her. He grabbed her phone and tried to get her thumb print to unlock the device before pushing her to the floor.
He then put his hands around her throat and strangled her, but she was able to push him off. She later told police that she thought he was going to kill her.
He then pushed her head into the sink, which was full of water, and held her underneath for a matter of seconds, before he fled the property.
Webster returned on March 6 and knocked on her door. She opened the door and he barged his way in and again appeared to be under the influence.
Turing violent again, he put his hand over her mouth and was screaming at her.
He then went into the kitchen and began tipping rubbish across the floor, before hitting her to the face with the back of his hand.
He then stamped on her, stood on her face and kicked her to the body.
Webster was later arrested and denied being violent, claiming she attacked him.
He appeared in court this week via a video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand, and admitted charges of intentional strangulation and ABH.
Webster, formerly of Micklefield but now of no fixed address, has 52 previous convictions for 117 offences, his last being a racially-aggravated public order offence for which he was given a 26-week suspended sentence earlier this year.
His latest offences put him in breach of that sentence.
Mitigating, Ian Cook said Webster accepted he was facing an immediate jail sentence. He said he had a long-standing history of substance misuse and was last incarcerated in 2019 for attempted robbery.
He said he had turned his life around since then, having secured a job with a family member at a scaffolding firm.
Mr Cook added: “Having a job helped him stay off drink and drugs and gave him some direction in his life.”
But a close friend of Webster died in August 2024 and his life began to “unravel”, once again turning to alcohol and cocaine.
However, he said that he was now addressing his addictions while on remand.
Judge Neil Clark jailed him for 42 months and activated three months of his suspended sentence, meaning a total sentence of 45 months.
He also gave him a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from his ex partner.