Jealous, violent man jailed for abuse
A YOUNG woman was bound, gagged and burned during a week of domestic abuse at the hands of her jealous partner.
Christopher Clark, of Rosedale Avenue, east Hull, flipped after suspecting his girlfriend had slept with her ex-boyfriend.
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Christopher Clark, of east Hull
His victim's ordeal culminated in her being placed on a chair in the middle of her living room, bound by her hands and ankles and gagged with a pillowcase placed over her head.
Clark, 31, used a cigarette to burn her and tightened his hands around her neck until she started to choke.
He then threatened to cut her little finger off with a blade unless she told him the truth about her relations with her ex-partner.
Hull Crown Court heard how the thug punched her in the stomach three times, telling her it was "just in case you are pregnant".
The victim, who the Mail has decided not to name, was left with burn marks, bruising on her head, neck, arm, elbow, wrists, hip, buttocks and legs, and cuts on her shoulder and stomach.
The court heard how she was driven to a field, where Clark threw her out of his car.
He told her: "No one will hear you out here. There's a river down there where I could dump you. I've taken people there before."
Clark then smeared mud across his girlfriend's face before driving off.
He returned and said: "I had a spade and a gun in the back of my car and I was going to kill you".
As the week continued, Clark also:
Smashed up any items in his partner's flat connected to her previous relationship
Held the blade of an ornamental sword against her neck
Threatened to firebomb the houses of her sister and father "at any time".
Clark was caught when his victim escaped to her sister's house and contacted police.
In a statement, his former partner, who was in court to see him sentenced, said the ordeal had taken her life away. She said: "For the past five months I have been a nervous wreck and I have felt like a prisoner.
"That week took my life away from me and I don't feel I will ever be the same person.
"I hate what I have become, and I feel like I'm nothing."
Clark pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of false imprisonment and putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.
He also admitted to one count of damaging property, two counts of threatening to damage property and one further charge, which cannot be detailed for legal reasons.
A psychiatric report submitted to the court said Clark was not suffering from a mental disorder or illness.
Sentencing him to seven years imprisonment, Judge Michael Mettyear said: "This was all over a relatively short period, but it must have seemed like an eternity to your victim.
"She was threatened with death and was the victim of significant violence. It must have been an absolute nightmare for her.
"As she says in her victim impact statement, there are marks on her body still and marks on her mind, which remind her again and again and again of what she went through."
Clark was served with a restraining order against his victim, which will remain in place until any further court order.
29 Comments
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by chris, hull
Wednesday, March 10 2010, 9:27PM
“your right seven years is not enough and yes he will only do 3 of them, so lets hope that they are the worst 3 years of his sorry life. i want to say to emily that your ordeal was awfull but i cant belive that the police did nothing. you can be put in prison just for sugesting such an attack. i do hope your not with him now..and as for the police in this incident they would of been there from the begining right to the end along with the c.p.s ,d.a.p and the c.j.s so any one wishing to slate them should have a damb good reason to, as there support was second to none and helped to convict such a monster as christopher clarke. i also want to say that anyone who is having to deal with mental or violent abuse should act now and not when its to late. the police will do they best to convict any abuser and put you in contact with all the support you and your family need. there are lots of support groups, all you have to do is pick up the phone and someone will listen. trust me.”
by reggie, hull
Wednesday, March 10 2010, 1:38PM
“this is the same nutter who ran the catalogue shop and then bikes direct on holderness road i believe -- thought he was johnny rock whilst there - intimadating people and customers”
by Meat, Head
Wednesday, March 10 2010, 10:10AM
“Let hope he get the same treatment from his new cell girlfriend.”
by Amanda, HULL
Wednesday, March 10 2010, 9:46AM
“The sentencing in this country as a whole is appalling. The guy would probably have been on remand since this incident and that will be knocked off his sentence so all in all he is looking at getting out in probably less than three years. And as for Emily's silly comments-I find this extremley hard to believe as the force has a positive arrest policy. More than likely that as the wheels of justice turn pretty slow the "victim" would probably have either decided to drop the charges and got back with him or was too frightened to go ahead-either way if there was enough evidence the Crown Prosecution Service would have gone ahead with the case with or without the girls say so.”
by mark, hull
Wednesday, March 10 2010, 6:21AM
“Why is this piece of dirt still breathing the same air as normal folk? Surely someone who can do that to another human being and not be declared of being in a mental state at the time can and probably will do it to another person upon his release?
Oh hang our judicinal system usually waits till his type have murdered some poor soul, dumped them in a forest and then capture them before a heavier sentence is passed out to them doesnt it! This scumbag should be lethal injected and then burned, so he does not even get another chance at destroying someones life.”
by PH, Hull
Tuesday, March 09 2010, 6:47PM
“rob, syd, henry are hereby named the three thickos.
also Phil & PH are not the same person you retards.
PH & Phil are two top quality people.
So there na na na na na.”
by PH, Hull
Tuesday, March 09 2010, 6:45PM
“rob, syd, henry are hereby named the three thickos.
also Phil & PH are not the same person you retards.
PH & Phil are two top quality people.
So there na na na na na.”
by capt pugwash, Seven Seas
Tuesday, March 09 2010, 4:45PM
“Having just read these comments,regarding playing rugby etc; this is the macho image that is in a lot of men also men that beat up women.Regarding beating up wives etc; i have been married for 56years and have never abused my wife,but at the same time even at my age these so called macho men would have a problem with me.And this is not idle talk.”
by Kev, Canada
Tuesday, March 09 2010, 4:37PM
“After his sentence is served he should be made to work with womens groups and see the type of horror first hand that he has inflicted on this poor woman, mind you they probably wouldn't have him.”
by Me, hull
Tuesday, March 09 2010, 3:20PM
“7 years is not enough for this scum bag, he should have got longer. Its seems to me that the police are spending a large amount of thier time dealing with DV incidents. What is it about this city that violence is apprently the answer to everything, no wonder we have the repuation we do. As for Emily, i find that very hard to believe, in fact i would suggest your version of events regarding the police is at best inaccurate, at worst lies, as i said earlier, the police seem to spend a huge amount of time dealing with DV incidents, and getting violent scum of either sex locked up and convicted.”