‘This is what you get, you’ve made me kill you’

A thug who attacked his pregnant partner at her home in Leeds has been jailed.

Jordan Cass was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.

The court heard how an argument broke out at the woman’s home after she attempted to flush a bag of his cocaine down the toilet.

Jordan Cass attacked his pregnant partner after she attempted to flush a bag of his cocaine down the toilet. | WYP/YEP

Prosecutor Lily Wildman told the court how Cass followed the woman into the bathroom and punched her in the mouth, before a struggle ensued over the bag.

She said the 34-year-old told the victim “I’m going to have to hurt you now” and “this is what you get, you’ve made me kill you”.

The court was told how the victim’s dog then became “protective” and started “going crazy,” and this distraction allowed her to escape the bathroom.

He further punched and kicked the woman, who was 19 weeks pregnant with his baby at the time, to her arm before she was able to run from the house, Ms Wildman told the court.

She ran to her mother’s home nearby and the police were called. The dog was later recovered roaming the streets without a lead or collar.

Cass, of no fixed abode, has 24 convictions from 46 previous offences, including the breach of a restraining order and threats of violence against another former partner.

In mitigation, his defence counsel Shannon Woodley told the court that her client had suffered from alcohol and drug-related addiction since the tragic death of his mother in a house fire when he was 14.

She added that her client had lived an “unsettled and chaotic life” since his mother’s death and was now attending narcotics anonymous meetings in prison.

Passing sentence, Judge Simon Batiste accepted that Cass had “clearly had a difficult childhood” but pointed to his previous convictions and the woman’s pregnancy at the time of the assault as aggravating factors when considering the appropriate sentence.

“She went to throw it [the cocaine] in the toilet and that caused you to completely see red and lose control,” Judge Batiste added.

He sentenced Cass to 27 months in prison and handed him a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from the woman.