Leeds woman left a 'shadow of herself' after controlling boyfriend stabbed her and locked her in own home
A thug who left his girlfriend “a shadow of her former self”, has been jailed for a relentless two-year campaign of violence and control.
A judge said that former pub landlord Lee Orrell put the woman through an ordeal of “degradation and humiliation”, hitting her, strangling her and even stabbing her on one occasion.
He would lock her in the house to prevent anyone seeing the bruises he had inflicted, check her social media accounts, convinced she was cheating and would smash her phone regularly.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Orrell gradually isolated her from her friends and family.
The 37-year-old admitted two counts of Section 20 GBH without intent, multiple incidents of intentional strangulation and coercive control.
He appeared in court via video link this week from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand since June of last year.
Prosecutor Anthony Dunne said Orrell and the woman met in October 2021 when he was the landlord of a pub in Moortown, and started a relationship two months later.
After four months he moved into her home in Belle Isle that she shared with her two young children.
Over the next two years he was “repeatedly violent, abusive and controlling” and often in drink, said Mr Dunne.
With the victim too scared to tell the authorities, it was not until April last year that a concerned third party reported him.
Orrell would often call the woman names, throw objects at her including TV remotes and phones. He smashed up to eight of her phones in anger.
He would often hide her phone so she was unable to contact anyone and she eventually stopped calling people to stop him “kicking off”.
Orrell would even message others from her phone in a bid to “catch her out” and accuse her of cheating. She eventually stopped leaving her home unless it was with him.
One one occasion, he kicked her to the body several times during an argument, then aimed one at her face which she blocked, but injured her hand.
He refused to let her go to hospital and taped her fingers up. But they turned black and when her boss noticed, she was made to go to hospital where it was found she had fractured her fingers. However, she said she had fallen.
On a second occasion, he grabbed a metal mop and hit her. The mop broke and he stabbed her in the thigh with the broken end. She was unable to seek medical attention.
The court heard that he also strangled her, leaving her gasping for breath, on more than 20 occasions and sometimes in front of her children.
When he was finally arrested and interviewed he told officers they were “dotingly in love with each other”. In a second interview he denied “raising a hand” to her.
Mitigating, Stephen Welford said Orrell had no previous convictions, had been a hard worker, but was “fully aware” he would receive a custodial sentence of “some length”.
He added: “He accepts responsibility and demonstrates some remorse.”
He said Orrell, of Cornbrook, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, was tackling his drug and alcohol issues from behind bars.
Judge Tahir Khan KC told Orrell: “She was a sociable person, and now she is a shadow of her former self.
“Your violent, aggressive and controlling behaviour towards her has had a marked impact on her.
“There was no justification for the violent and controlling behaviour.”
He jailed him for four years and gave him a restraining order of indefinite length to keep him away from the woman.