Cheshire dad-of-one strangled ex in her home after split
Now he's behind bars
Lloyd McNicholas, aged 33, was jailed for 27 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to strangulation and intimidation.(Image: Staffordshire Police)
Cheshire dad Lloyd McNicholas strangled his ex-partner and then put pressure on her to drop the charges against him. The 33-year-old was acting in a paranoid state when he entered her Stoke-on-Trent home and stood next to her bed as she slept on August 29.
He asked her if she loved him and squeezed her neck for 15 to 20 seconds. Days later he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her into a car where he told her to go to the police and drop the charges against him.
Now McNicholas, of Crewe Road, Alsager, has been jailed for 27 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. The court heard the couple had been in a short-term relationship which ended in late August.
Prosecutor Nick Tatlow said: "He put his hands on her neck. She could not breathe. He squeezed hard for 15 to 20 seconds." McNicholas contacted the woman on September 4 saying he wanted to collect his belongings. Later that day she called a taxi to collect her and at 7pm she saw a vehicle and thought it was her taxi. But the defendant jumped out of the car.
Mr Tatlow added: "You think I am a d***head'. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into the car. The defendant told her she had to go to the police at 9am to drop the charges." The defendant was arrested on September 10.
McNicholas pleaded guilty to strangulation and intimidation. Edmund Potts, mitigating, said McNicholas accepts he has a bad record. He has a daughter, is keen to gain work, and had been remanded in custody since September 12. He added: "He had been working to turn his life around."
McNicholas has also been handed a three-year restraining order. Judge Graeme Smith said: "On August 29 you went to her home in the night and squeezed her neck for a period of time which prevented her from breathing during that period. A few days later you put pressure on her not to proceed with the charges against you. But she reported the matter to the police. There was no actual interference with the course of justice."