Sadistic Telford domestic abuser hit victim with hammer and locked her in car boot

David Wilkes, of Hoop Mill, Hadley, Telford, was sentenced for seven offences against his former partner when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The 48-year-old was convicted of charges of attempted robbery, kidnap, false imprisonment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, strangulation, kidnap, and controlling and coercive behaviour following a trial.

The court was told the charges related to a nine month period where Wilkes “terrorised” his victim.

Mr Jackson, prosecuting, told of a series of shocking incidents, while the court also heard a statement from Wilkes’ brave victim who told Judge Anthony Lowe: “I feared for my life when I was with David”.

The court was told how on one occasion Wilkes beat his victim with a hammer until she cowered in the footwell of a car trying to protect herself from the blows.

Mr Jackson told of an incident where Wilkes used a phone cord to try and strangle the woman in his car.

The court heard that when she escaped Wilkes chased her, caught her, and dragged her back to his car before locking her in the boot and driving off.

Another incident included Wilkes tying her wrists behind her back, tying her ankles, then tying the two before putting a sock in her mouth and tying it in place with a dressing gown chord.

While she was bound he then told her he intended to set her on fire, and burned paper, holding it close to her skin so she could feel the heat.

Mr Jackson detailed the controlling behaviour and how Wilkes installed cameras at the property to monitor her behaviour while he was out, and glued up the keyhole to the rear door so she could not use it.

He also removed window handles and door handles in the property to stop her leaving certain rooms.

The court was told of an instance where video showed Wilkes punching the woman in the head outside her home.

Paul Smith, mitigating, said Wilkes has engaged with treatment programmes in prison, and is “motivated for treatment and realises he needs to change”.

He added: “There is plainly an underlying problem that he need to deal with and he is doing so.”

Sentencing, Judge Lowe said: “In simple terms over a period of nine to ten months you basically terrorised your partner at the time with frequent incidents of violence and other quite serious attempts to control what she did - putting cameras in to make sure you could see what she was doing, locking her in the house, removing door and window handles. These are extreme examples of controlling and coercive behaviour - but all those become almost insignificant when I look at the other counts you face.

“The false imprisonment where you tied her wrists behind her back, you tied her ankles, you connected the two, forcing her to into a curled up shape. As if that is not enough you put a sock in her mouth, held by a dressing gown chord wrapped around her head.”

Judge Lowe then told Wilkes had threatened to burn his victim, adding: “This was not just controlling and coercive behaviour, this verged on the sadistic.”

He added: “The fact that I regard that as the lead offence when I go back to the earlier offences of strangulation, punching her to the face, stopping her escaping from the car, using a telephone cable as a ligature leaving her struggling for breath - and not content with that act of strangling her, when she does manage to get away you captured her and forced her into the boot of the car.”

Judge Lowe said the incident must have left Wilkes’ victim in “abject terror”.

He said: “It is almost the sort of stuff you see in films and movies that you assume and hope is never going to happen to you.”

Judge Lowe said it seemed Wilkes was taking “a sadistic pleasure in what you were doing to her.”

The court was told Wilkes has previous convictions for violence in 1992, as well as domestic violence in 2019.

Judge Lowe said the sentencing offences also included offences against another Telford man.

In total Wilkes was sentenced to 13 years in prison - with three years extended licence. The sentence included 12 years for the offences against his former partner, and 12 months for the offences against the other man.

Judge Lowe said he would serve two thirds of the sentence.

Wilkes was also made subject of 20 year restraining orders preventing him contacting both victims.