Jail for jealous man in chainsaw threat

A Black Country man who kidnapped his girlfriend in a jealous rage and threatened to chop her up with a chainsaw he had just bought has been jailed for three years.

Daniel Crooks, described by the judge as a risk to women, dragged victim Kimberley Webb by the hair up to his flat with such force that chunks of it came out. He assaulted another woman days after she turned down his sexual advances in a local pub, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Crooks, entered Hayley Bills' house late at night through an unlocked door.

Then the 28-year-old went up to her bedroom where he pinned her to the bed, telling her: "You won't say 'no' next time." Defending him, Timothy Pole blamed Crooks' violent behaviour on a depressive illness and a chronic alcohol addiction.

In the first attack, in April last year, Crooks, of Stratford Close, Milking Bank, Dudley, turned up in Miss Bills' bedroom and slapped her so hard she fell backwards on to the bed.

He then pinned her down as her two children, aged six and four, were in the living room downstairs, said Alison Scott-Jones, prosecuting. Miss Bills was later treated at hospital for bruising to her cheek. The following month, Crooks saw her in a pub and loudly remonstrated with her for reporting him to the police.

The second attack, on Kimberley Webb five months ago, was sparked by jealousy when Crooks demanded to know who she was texting during a night out. She left him to sit with friends and later found her BMW missing.

He picked her up in the car the next morning and she saw a knife, cans of lager and a chainsaw in the back. They drove to his mother's house for a petrol can and when she was reluctant to return to the car he pulled her in by her hair.

She escaped when he stopped at a local Tesco for petrol and hid in bushes but was attacked again when she walked back to the flat to retrieve her car.

Inside the flat, he banged her head repeatedly against the wall and threatened her with the chainsaw. She was saved when police arrived.

Crooks pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, threatening to kill, witness intimidation and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm. Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Gosling said: "Women face a real risk from you."