A man poured petrol over himself and threatened to set his family home alight after attacking his partner when he was in the midst of a psychotic episode.

The Middlesbrough dad grabbed his victim by the throat leaving her fearing she would blackout during a terrifying bout of late-night violence when he heard the ‘devil’ talk to him.

Christopher Appleby also poured petrol over the hands of a brave neighbour who tried to intervene while he was doused in fuel and holding a lighter in his hand.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 42-year-old would probably not have committed the offences if his mental health problems had been diagnosed earlier.

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Ian West, prosecuting, said the trouble erupted after the defendant returned from a Middlesbrough FC match in a ‘bad mood’ and he followed his partner into the bedroom.

“He grabbed her around the neck so tightly that she can’t breathe and thought she was going to pass out,” he said.

“The next-door neighbour heard someone running from the house shouting that Appleby was going to kill them.

“She saw the defendant retrieve a jerry can containing petrol and he poured it over himself and the house while he was holding a lighter.

“The defendant then locked himself inside the house with his partner but she managed to get out.

“He said he didn’t want to live anymore and the devil was talking to him.”

Appleby, of Clough Close, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault, threats to kill, intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and threaten to destroy property to endanger life.

Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said her client had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder following his arrest and was now being treated with medication.

She said: “He deeply regrets his actions and has virtually no recollection of the evening at all.

“He has been struggling with his mental health for a couple of years.”

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Recorder Ayesha Smart accepted that Appleby was in the grip of a psychotic episode at the time of the attack on May 8 this year.

“You grabbed your partner by the neck and squeezed her for 30 seconds, she thought she was going to pass out,” she said.

“The neighbour came to try and stop you; you poured petrol on her hands while you still had the lighter in your hand – that must have been scary for her.”

Appleby was sentenced to 20 months in custody suspended for two years and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and attend 31 rehabilitation activity requirement days.