Dad strangled wife in front of their young daughter

Tom Curtis appeared at Leicester Crown Court
-Credit: (Image: Tom Mack/Leicester Mercury)


A father-of-three throttled his wife while their screaming young daughter looked on. Tom Curtis had pinned his wife to their bed in their Loughborough home and forced her to beg him to release her.

Leicester Crown Court heard that Curtis and his wife had been together since May 2015 and had three young children, now aged eight, three and one. The first attack by Curtis on his wife happened in 2018 when he grabbed her by the neck and pressed her to the floor.

Then, in March 2022, he became angry after the couple had been drinking at a pub and he grabbed his wife by the neck again. Carrie Garness, prosecuting, said this time he squeezed, restricting her breathing.

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He then pushed her over and either punched or bit her, causing a split lip. She also had burst blood vessels below her eyes.

There was a further attack in 2023, followed by the most serious in August of this year after the couple had been to the pub with their children. Curtis got angry with his wife in the pub after one of their children wrote something "offensive" on his leg.

Ms Garness said: "[His wife] was upset and crying, not knowing how to deal with the situation. At 9.30pm they were back at home and the defendant became angry and started shouting, wanting to know why she didn't back him up in the pub.

"She took the boys upstairs, not wanting them to hear." She said Curtis then entered the boys' bedroom and his wife kicked him in the crotch as he approached her.

He then dragged his wife into their bedroom by putting his arm around her neck. In the bedroom, he pinned her down with his arm on her throat and she struggled to breathe.

Their now eight-year-old daughter watched, crying for much of the 20-minute attack, which left his wife with bruises around her neck and ended only after he ordered her to beg him to let her go, which she did.

After he released her she rushed out of the house barefoot, screaming for help and stopped a passing car. She and her three children have been living in emergency accommodation since.

The victim told Leicestershire Police she had been close to passing out as he strangled her. But in a victim statement. she said she did not want to see her husband jailed. She said: "I know it was a horrible crime, but I never wanted this to go as far as it has.

"I never wanted to separate him from us or go to prison." The court heard that, after giving the first statement, she told the police she wanted to withdraw her support of the prosecution.

She said in her second statement: "It's breaking our family apart and this is not what I wanted. I hope we're able to rebuild our relationship."

April Beech, representing Curtis, of Peel Drive, Loughborough, said her client was remorseful and the attacks had been out of character. She said Curtis, previously a restaurant manager, was currently working as a barman and had been getting help for his drinking problem.

She added: "He has not touched alcohol since the night of the latest offence."

Judge William Harbage KC told Curtis the Court of Appeal made it clear that people accused of strangulation should usually face sentences of 18 months in jail because of the seriousness of the offence.

The judge said the strangulation offence was aggravated by their daughter watching, the "sustained nature" of the attack and the effect on his wife. The judge said: "The measure of her fear and distress can be gleaned from the fact she ran barefoot from the house to flag down a car and summon help."

But the judge added that Curtis, who had pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and strangulation, had no previous convictions and his family would suffer if he went to prison immediately. He gave Curtis a 14-month sentenced suspended for 18 months.

In addition he will have to do 100 hours of unpaid work and attend the 31-day Building Better Relationships course with the probation service, as well as up to 10 further days on probation programmes.

The judge, who had received a letter from Curtis in which he promised to never harm his wife again, told Curtis: "You've come very close to prison today. I hope you're as good as your promise."