A MAN who forced his former partner to drink from a toilet after spraying what she believed to be bleach into the bowl has been jailed.

York Crown Court heard that the woman thought she saved her own life by climbing out of a second-floor window to escape the ordeal.

Richard Cook, 40, made the woman go to his house when they bumped into each other on October 17, said Laurie Scott, prosecuting.

He made her drink seven cups of water from his toilet bowl.

In her witness statement, the woman said: “He then sprayed some Flash bleach into the water and told me I had to drink another three cups.”

The barrister said: “Which she did, believing the substance which had been sprayed into the water was bleach.”

Cook also kicked the woman into the bath and forced her to sit in a corner of the sitting room with her hands up.

After he left, she managed to get out of the second-floor flat by climbing out of a window onto a wheelie bin, said Ms Scott.

“Richard Cook says he will always own me,” the woman said in a victim personal statement. “He has lost me.

“I feel if I hadn’t climbed out of the flat, it would have got worse and he would have killed me.”

Two days earlier, in a separate incident, Cook had “frogmarched” the woman to his house, hit her in the face with her mobile phone and given her a black eye.

Amanda Johnson, for Cook, said he was a long-term heroin addict who was remorseful.

Judge Simon Hickey said: “Unfortunately my powers are limited, otherwise you would be receiving a much longer sentence.”

Cook, formerly of Tudor Road, Acomb, and now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to three assaults and was jailed for five months. The maximum sentence he could have received was six months.

Ms Scott said the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to accept the pleas to assault after it became clear the liquid sprayed into the toilet bowl was dirty water, not bleach.

A spokesman for York Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) said: “This case highlights the lengths perpetrators will go to destroy their victim’s confidence and self-belief so that they don’t or can’t speak out.

“If you are affected by this report and recognise some of the behaviours in your relationship, you could be experiencing domestic abuse.

“Domestic abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional or financial.

“IDAS is an independent charity who offer support to anyone who is at risk of harm, abuse or violence from a partner, an ex-partner or family member.”

  • If you are concerned about your own relationship, or if you are worried about someone you know, call IDAS for free, confidential support on 03000-110110.
  • Alternatively, the National Domestic Violence freephone helpline operates 24 hours a day and can be reached on 0808-2000247. The helpline is open to those affected or anyone concerned about a friend or relative. The helpline is run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge.