Paranoid Leeds man burned wife with a lighter and would stop her taking her phone to the bathroom
A paranoid drug user burned his wife with a lighter and would ban her from taking her phone to the toilet.
Lee Edwards would make repeated accusations about her cheating on him, would constantly check on where she was, and even made made unfounded accusations that she was in a pornographic film that he had seen online.
The 44-year-old was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after he admitted a charge of coercive control over a five-year period.
The court was told that the pair had been married for around nine years, and despite starting off well, it began to deteriorate when Edwards himself had an affair in 2019.
He became paranoid due to his drug use and despite his own infidelity, would continually accuse her, demanding to check her phone to ensure she was not in contact with other men. She was not permitted to to take her phone to the bathroom.
He would belittle her in front of friends and became isolated from them, prosecutor Jade Bucklow told the court.
Edwards would also burn her with a lighter, not with the flame, but by placing the heated metal frame of the lighter on her skin.
He was eventually arrested and during his interview conceded the relationship had broken down due to drug use, but said both had taken them, although he did say he was jealous and paranoid.
He said they argued over petty issues and that she was “secretive” with her phone.
Edwards said the lighter burning was not malicious and they would both do it to each other.
Mitigating, Leila Taleb said: “It’s clearly a toxic relationship that at times has cut both ways. It’s not helped by both of them taking drugs.”
She said he was “lightly convicted” having not been in trouble since 2002. She said he was now drug-free having been on remand since October and is promised a job once he is released.
Judge Penelope Belcher told Edwards: “This was unpleasant behaviour. It has the potential for damaging effects on the victim.
“It was very clearly a toxic relationship and it was not necessary all one way.”
He was given six months’ jail and a five-year restraining order to keep him away from his estranged wife.