Yahoo News Brave domestic abuse victim fights back after campaign of violence
Andrew Roache, 36, strangled and punched a woman who then bit him in a desperate bid to escape.
A man who strangled and punched a woman has been jailed after she got away from him by biting him on the nose.
Andrew Roache, 36, grabbed his victim by the throat and repeatedly hit her before driving her to the roadside and throwing her out of his car by her hair. When concerned members of the public tried to help, he then made threats to attack them with a machete.
The woman, from Doncaster, was forced to bite her attacker on the nose in a desperate bid to stop him from hurting her during the incident. Officers later brought Roache into custody, who was pictured in his police mugshot with blood splattered across his face.
His vulnerable victim went on to reveal to police how he had strangled her regularly over a prolonged period. This led police to launch an investigation where they reviewed hours' worth of CCTV footage that captured Roache's abuse and attacks.
He went on to plead guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour, non-fatal strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Roache, of no fixed abode, was jailed for two-and-a-half years and given a five-year restraining order against his victim on 22 February at Sheffield Crown Court.
‘Dangerous individual’
PC Alex Latham, of South Yorkshire Police, applauded his victim’s bravery following the outcome of the case. The officer said: "Roache is a dangerous individual who subjected his victim to a series of brutal assaults and horrifying abuse that left her terrified to be around him.
"He even threatened brave members of the public with violence when they tried to intervene and help the woman he had attacked and thrown in a ditch. I want to commend the victim in this case for her bravery in opening up to us about Roache's offending.
"It has resulted in a deserved custodial sentence, and I hope it sends out a clear message that we will not tolerate vicious and violent crimes like the ones committed by Roache."
Fears for domestic abuse funding
Last week, the government was warned lifesaving services for domestic abuse survivors are at risk of disappearing amid a funding crisis.
Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, has called for a legal duty to be included in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to fund such services in order to protect them “for generations to come”.
She has written to Michael Gove, Secretary State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to raise concern that councils not being legally obliged to fund services poses a danger that those under financial pressures end up cutting them.
The commissioner said eight councils had issued a Section 114 notice – effectively declaring them bankrupt – since 2018, and that four in 10 councils are at risk of going bust in the next five years.
Ms Jacobs said: “For too long, domestic abuse services have been hanging by a thread and piecing funding together just to keep their doors open.
“We are standing on the edge of a precipice. If urgent action is not taken, lifesaving services will disappear, risking the safety of thousands of victims and survivors. I fear for the adult and child victims and survivors who will be placed at greater risk of serious harm and homicide as a result.
