CONTROLLING MIDDLESBROUGH MAN JAILED AFTER STRANGLING EX-PARTNER AND THREATENING TO KILL HER
A "controlling" man has been locked up after strangling his former partner and threatening to kill her.Jake Bringloe grabbed the woman by the throat and squeezed tight while screaming in her face.
The 30-year-old also held a knife in the air and pointed it towards her telling her 'I'm going to kill you'.
Joe Hedworth, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court: "He looked very angry, the complainant feared he would carry out his threats." Bringloe was handed a five-year restraining order against the victim in April after being convicted of harassment against her.
However, he continued to approach her in the street, climb through a window into her house, and force his way into her car.
Mr Hedworth said their initial three-year relationship ended when Bringloe became "controlling and possessive" towards her.
He said the defendant wanted to know who she was contacting and did not get on with her family.
He was handed a conditional discharge for harassment at the court in Middlesbrough after he kept turning up at her flat, hammering on communal doors, and demanding to be let in.
Two months later, in June this year, the woman was on her way to a friend's birthday party when Bringloe appeared and asked her why she was following a male on social media.
He stood at the passenger side of the car but she managed to drive away.
When she returned home that night, Bringloe was in her living room, having climbed in through a window.
She told him to leave as he had no right to be there.
The defendant picked up a watch, which she received from her mother as a 21st birthday present, put it in his pocket, and left.
Mr Hedworth said: "He later returned the watch and said he wanted her in his life.
She let him inside in the hope he would say what he wanted to say and leave." However, Bringloe followed her around her flat and refused to leave.
Mr Hedworth said: "He was aggressive, pacing up and down, grinding his teeth, and clenching his fist.
He held a kitchen knife up and held the blade to his throat.
He said 'Tell me to do it then'.
The complainant told him not to do it.
She got into bed and made it clear he needed to leave." Bringloe grabbed her by the throat when she told him another person was a better man than him.
The prosecutor said: "He grabbed the complainant by the throat, squeezed really tight.
The defendant was screaming in her face.
She was left with a red mark on her neck." The court heard how he then threatened to kill her while holding a knife.
Bringloe left her home at around 6am and the woman, who was visibly distressed, reported the incident to the police.
On a further occasion, in August, Bringloe told the woman he needed help and asked to meet her.
She agreed, as he was being calm, and asked him what he wanted out of the car window.
When he asked her to open the car door, she refused.
He put his hand through the car window, opened the door, and challenged her about who she had been messaging.
The court heard how Bringloe was angry and refused to get out of her car.
He then removed items from her glove box, including her nana's house keys.
She drove home and locked the front door but he banged on the door, asking to be let in.
She told him to post her nana's house keys through the letter box.
The defendant told her he had given the keys to an unknown male and if she rang the police he would raid her nana's house.
He then apologised and eventually posted the keys.
A short time later, Bringloe let himself in through the window.
Mr Hedworth said: "He said he was going to kill himself and it would be her fault." He challenged the woman about who she was contacting on social media and refused to leave.
The court heard how he grabbed her mouth and her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe.
He eventually let go and asked why she was crying.
He continued questioning her about her use of social media.
Bringloe, of Broadwell Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order, strangulation, threats to kill, and suffocation.
Nick Ayres, defending, told Judge Stephen Carroll: "The defendant is realistic that the only outcome in one of custody.
The defendant does not believe that this matter will resolve in anything other than a custodial sentence - and a custodial sentence of some length, your honour." "The defendant wishes to apologise to the victim.
It can be seen, in the pre-sentence report, that he acknowledges that he has scarred her for life.
He recognises the distress that he has caused to her." The judge told Bringloe, who appeared via video link to Holme House, that his behavior was "a frightening, threatening, and intimidating" experience for his former partner.
He said: "You grabbed her by the throat and started to squeeze really tight - leaving her with a mark on her neck while you screamed in her face." "Later again, you started to threaten to kill her.
You physically had a knife with you, holding it in the air.
You were pointing the blade towards (the victim).
You were telling her you wanted to kill her.
She genuinely feared that you might mean it." Judge Carroll sentenced him to six years in prison — 54 months in custody and 18 months on an extended licence.
He must serve two thirds of his sentence before parole consideration.
Bringloe was also handed an indefinite restraining order against the woman.
