MAN JAILED AFTER SUBJECTING WOMAN TO 'HORRIFIC' ABUSE
Lewis Clarke, aged 31, admitted guilt to four counts of rape, two counts of intentional strangulation, assault, and controlling and coercive behaviour during a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court on July 29.Authorities stated that he inflicted severe physical and psychological abuse on his victim over a prolonged period.
The woman contacted law enforcement after suffering a physical attack and disclosed the full extent of her ordeal.
Clarke, residing on Martin Wells Road, was subsequently detained and charged.
On January 27, Clarke received a 20-year prison sentence along with an indefinite restraining order at Sheffield Crown Court.
In her victim impact statement read during sentencing, she expressed: "There are no words to fully describe the horror of what happened to me over and over again at the hands of Lewis.
When we first met you swept me off my feet, I loved you so much.
I would have and did do anything for you, but you abused that and made my life horrific.
"What began as love quickly became a life of terror, control and abuse.
I was confident and happy and now I’m scared of my own shadow.
"Lewis abused my trust, my love and my loyalty.
He deliberately and repeatedly subjected me to violence, sexual abuse and control.
The things he did to me were calculated and cruel.
Nobody will ever know the full extent of that abuse, but he does, and I live with it every day.
"I was so terrified that I believed I would not survive.
I wrote letters to my children in the notes app on my phone and hid them for when you killed me.
I was so scared that they would think I left them and I died by accident and not at the hands of the man they used to call daddy.
I did not want them to believe I had abandoned them or that my death was an accident.
I wanted them to know the truth.
"I cannot understand why you repeatedly did those evil things to me, I begged for my life more times than I can begin to count.
The abuse destroyed my sense of self.
I blamed myself.
I hated myself.
I now understand that this was part of the control he exerted over me.
"I will never be the same again.
The physical injuries may fade, but the psychological damage remains and will stay with me forever.
"I want to be able to live without feeling like I am constantly waiting for something bad to happen.
But I will not stop trying to live my life and move forward for my children’s sake.
"Lewis you took my voice and body for too long.
I am taking my life back.
I will continue to move forward, but I will carry the impact of his actions with me forever.
I have taken my life back and I am not afraid of you anymore."
