A York man who attacked his ex-partner with an electric wire and kicked her puppy so hard he broke its leg, has been jailed for 16-months.
Nicholas Radley-Holmes, 37, already had a track record for violence against women including the same victim, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that Radley-Holmes and the named victim had been in a relationship for about six years but his controlling, manipulative and violent behaviour ultimately led to their separation.
During a nine-month period between December 2024 and October last year, Radley-Holmes would regularly stay at the victim’s home with their English bulldog pup Minnie “whether he was welcome or not”.
“He claimed he had a right to stay at the victim’s home even though the house was solely in her name,” said Ms Morrison.
“He would make threats to break in if she didn’t let him in and refused to acknowledge they were no longer in a relationship.”
Radley-Holmes would call her “worthless” and threatened dire consequences if she “didn’t do what he wanted”. The threats included “putting her in his car boot” and a threat to kill her.
“On one occasion he assaulted her with an electric wire, causing bruising to her legs, and caused damage to items of property including her mobile phone and her car,” added Ms Morrison.
Radley-Holmes’ twisted mind games also included hiding the victim’s paperwork on which she had set out her work shifts, so that she didn’t know when she was supposed to be working.
He also contacted her employer “on multiple occasions”, making the false allegation that she had turned up for work “under the influence of drugs”.
As a result, the mother-of-two had to undergo voluntary drug-testing at her workplace to clear her name.
On other occasions, Radley-Holmes turned up at her workplace in his car. On at least one occasion, as the victim was walking out of the building, he held up his phone “to make clear he was filming her”.
He also “regularly posted about her on social media, calling her names”.
Radley-Holmes contacted the victim’s mother “to complain about (the victim), to call her names and make threats, often saying that if (the victim’s mother) didn’t do something about her daughter, he would harm her”.
In the spring of 2024, the victim was horrified to receive a text message from Radley-Holmes telling her he had hurt her young puppy, Minnie, by kicking her across a bedroom, causing a broken leg.
Minnie – who was the former couple’s pet but is now in the sole ownership of the victim – had to undergo a major operation to repair her broken leg which, together with veterinary care, cost nearly £7,000.
The incident was a cause of “considerable distress” to the victim who said she was made constantly “miserable” by Radley-Holmes’ callous behaviour which resulted in her living a “very limited” life shorn of friendships.
Her employer and her mother had noticed she had become “very quiet and reserved” during her relationship with Radley-Holmes.
He called police
He was finally arrested in October last year after he contacted police, falsely claiming that the victim had set her dog on him.
However, when they spoke to the victim, she told officers that Radley-Holmes had locked her and the timid pup inside a bedroom that morning and “refused to release them”.
He initially denied the offences but pleaded guilty to controlling or coercive behaviour and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal on the day his trial was due to take place in March.
A further allegation of assaulting the victim, occasioning actual bodily harm, was denied by Radley-Holmes and allowed to lie on the court file.
He appeared for sentence yesterday (Monday, 11 May).
In a statement read out by the prosecution, the victim said that throughout her relationship with Radley-Holmes, she felt she was “walking on eggshells” and “having to ask permission to do things such as going to see family and friends”.
She said he had “isolated her from everyone” and “expected me to do everything” around the house.
“I tried to refuse him coming to my house, but he would turn up anyway and demand to get into the property,” she added.
“When I did spend time with my family, he would question me. I was only allowed to do what he wanted. Ultimately, I did what he wanted…out of fear.”
She added: “He often threatened to report me to the police, to my employer…and other professionals. I was living daily life in fear that they would buy his lies.”
‘Woman beaters don’t stop’
Radley-Holmes, currently of no fixed abode, was no stranger to the courts, having racked up 41 previous offences, including previous violence against the same victim.
In 2023, he was convicted of assaulting her, causing actual bodily harm, and the following year he was convicted of damaging her property.
In 2018, he was convicted of assaulting another former partner.
Defence barrister Jordan Millican said that nothing he could say could prevent an immediate prison sentence for his client who had spent seven-and-a-half months on remand since his arrest.
Judge Sean Morris told Radley-Holmes: “You have previously been violent to the victim and it’s my experience that woman beaters don’t stop.
“You controlled this woman’s life in a coercive way, making her life a misery, and like all such people, you only pleaded guilty at the last minute when you realised the game was up.”
The judge gave Radley-Holmes a 16-month prison sentence, made up of 14 months for the controlling behaviour and two months consecutive for the cowardly attack on the puppy.
However, due to the time that he had spent on remand, he was likely to be released from jail imminently.
Mr Morris also made a seven-year restraining order to keep Radley-Holmes away from the victim.
