Jail for abuser who suffocated victim with cushion

Alex Balcombe was jailed for 20 months

A "dangerous abuser" who attacked a woman and tried to suffocate her with a cushion has been jailed for 20 months.

Alex Balcombe, 29, was drunk when he assaulted his victim in the Glusburn area, near Skipton, North Yorkshire, on 23 February.

Balcombe, of no fixed abode, admitted charges of assault by beating, damaging property and suffocation.

He denied a charge of controlling and coercive behaviour, which was not advanced by the Crown Prosecution Service but will remain on file.

Det Con Abigail Garford, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "Alex Balcombe is a dangerous abuser of women who carried out a terrifying attack on the victim,

She said Balcombe, who was drunk, had verbally abused the woman and made her feel unsafe in her own home,

She said his victim had intended to call a taxi so should could get to a place of safety, but he then became violent.

"He pushed her onto a sofa causing an injury to her back. He tried to pin her to the sofa and take her phone off her.

“It then turned sinister when he grabbed a cushion and forcibly held it over the victim’s face to the point where she was fighting for breath.

"She really thought she was going to die."

Det Con Garford praised the victim for her bravery in coming forward and said she had "demonstrated incredible strength and determination throughout".

She said the woman's motivation was her concern for other women "knowing what Balcombe was capable of doing".

In addition to his prison sentence, Balcombe was also made the subject of a 10-year restraining order to protect his victim.

He was also ordered to pay £250 in compensation for damaging parts of the home where the attack took place.

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