North East thug who pinned his pregnant girlfriend to bed and strangled her is jailed
Damien Kelly seemed like a nice boyfriend at first but his behaviour changed and he became abusive and aggressive
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA thug who strangled his pregnant girlfriend after pinning her to a bed has been jailed. The victim had been in a relationship with Damien Kelly for around seven months and said to begin with everything was good and she believed he cared for her.
However, she said things changed in November last year. Laura Miller, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court there had been a argument after she became aware he was texting other women and he grabbed her by the throat.
She said from that point on the relationship became on and off. She said he would often consume alcohol and crack cocaine and become aggressive and abusive and on a few occasions he used violence against her.
Against that background, on February 1 this year, the victim was at home with Kelly and everything was fine. Later that day, he said he was going to buy some crack cocaine and she said if he did she was moving back to Blyth.
He left before returning later that night around 11pm. He pushed her against a wall and placed both hands around her neck for a number of minutes. She tried to free herself but was unable to do so and was only just able to breathe and was screaming for him to get off.
Eventually he let go and she ran outside but tried to get in because it was cold outside and she was six weeks pregnant. However the front door had been blocked and when she went to the back door Kelly told her to get out of what was her home.
She pleaded to be let in and he eventually said she could come in to charge her phone. He then started shouting at her again and telling her to get out.
She tried to get to sleep but Kelly started playing loud music until around 5am. He then called her abusive names and slapped her before putting his hand around her neck and pinning her to the mattress in an attack lasting around five minutes.
The woman said in a victim impact statement: "His behaviour has left me feeling scared and worried. I was fearful and concerned he would cause me serious harm. I've never seen him act as bad as this before."
Kelly, 29, of no fixed address, who has 36 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and he was also in breach of suspended prison sentence for possessing a knife. He was jailed for a total of two years.
Fiona Lamb, defending, said he has been working in prison and wants to find employment when he is released.
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