Yahoo News Boyfriend dripped Superglue into girlfriend's eye as she slept
A boyfriend Superglued his girlfriend's eye closed when she was asleep.
Thomas Patton, 29, hit and threatened his partner during their relationship last year, which she was too scared to end. His victim, who says she "no longer goes out and is constantly anxious" was scared that Patton would kill her - he told her he "would rather see her dead than with someone else."
On Monday, Teesside Crown Court heard that Patton was repeatedly violent towards his girlfriend, and when she reported him to the police, after seeking hospital treatment for her eye, he tried to intimidate her into withdrawing her statement.
The victim says she also reported other incidents to the police, after the intimidation. She says her mother's car was damaged; and her mum was followed by somebody with a knife who was calling her "a s***," the hearing was told.
In a statement read out to the court, Patton's ex said she will "leave the area if he is released from prison" and only feels safe when he is incarcerated. The domestic abuse survivor said: "My family stopped talking to me at one stage. I lost friends because Thomas's behaviour was so crazy. When I was with him, I did not think that ending the relationship was an option. I thought that the only way out was to kill myself."
Patton, of Cotswold Avenue, in Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to:
intimidating a witness,
assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was convicted by a jury, after a trial, of:
engaging in coercive behaviour,
two counts of assault,
two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm - which took place between July and October 2023.
Eleanor Durdy, mitigating, said Patton, who admitted using class A and B drugs, claimed he didn't mean to squirt the superglue into his girlfriend's eye, maintaining it was "an accident" - a claim the judge rejected.
Judge Stephen Ashurst told Patton: "This relatively short relationship descended into violence and an atmosphere of intimidation. You applied Superglue to her eye - I reject that this was an accident, as you say. You pressured her to withdraw her statement to the police. The victim is entitled to move on with her life without threats of violence."
Patton shook his head as he was jailed for three-years-and-six-months. He was made the subject of a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his victim and her mother for five years.
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