Man jailed for strangling and stamping on girlfriend during make-or-break caravan holiday

A "nasty" boyfriend strangled and stamped on his terrified partner during a blazing row while on a make-or-break caravan holiday. Lewis Rudd was described as being in "a big ball of anger" when he savagely attacked the woman after she made herself late-night crumpets following a night out – rather than first preparing cheese on toast for him. The Middlesbrough man "came storming into" the bedroom and woke her before dragging her out of bed and launching a violent assault on her, Hull Crown Court was told. Rudd, 36, denied charges of intentional strangulation and assault causing actual bodily harm against the woman on October 31, 2022, but was found guilty by a jury following a trial. The court heard the couple, who had been together for more than five years, were locked in a "very toxic relationship". They travelled to Thornwick Bay holiday village at Flamborough, near Bridlington, for a make-or-break weekend away. Upon returning to the caravan after a Sunday night out, the woman began making crumpets for herself and cheese on toast for him. Rudd became infuriated that she cooked crumpets for herself first, while she was holding a bread knife. He "made a big fuss" about the bread knife, which sparked a "massive, huge argument". The woman told Rudd: "I don't want to be with you. This isn't how I want it to be." She firmly denied threatening him with the knife, or lunging towards him and threatening to cut his throat with it. The woman claimed: "He was screaming and shouting to me. He was saying I was worthless. I knew he was seeing someone else.", reports Teesside Live . She informed Rudd she was heading to bed. She stated she had fallen asleep when Rudd "came storming into the room" and woke her. Rudd told her: "I'm going home. I'm sick of this." She said: "All of a sudden, he just started attacking me. I was all tangled up in the bed sheets." They were "screaming and shouting" at each other. "I remember him charging at me and he wrapped his hands around my neck," she said. Rudd dragged her from the bed and pinned her down on the floor. She attempted to push him off, digging her nails into him to try to "shock him" into letting go. She mouthed "I can't breathe" and Rudd replied "F***ing good!" She was yelling and screaming that he was going to kill her and she lost consciousness. The final thing she recalled before blacking out was seeing Rudd's foot. The woman managed to flee by going to the bathroom and leaping out of the window, hitting the concrete below. The woman contacted the security office and staff members alerted the police. Paramedics arrived and the woman was transported to Scarborough Hospital. She sustained a cut on her head, abrasion on her neck and tenderness on her chest and spine. She later stated: "When he gets drunk, he gets nasty." Rudd departed the holiday park in his vehicle but was subsequently arrested by officers at a filling station. He afterwards admitted to drink driving and received a driving ban, the court was told. Rudd informed the court during his testimony that he and his partner travelled to the caravan that weekend for "some us time" together. "It was just nice to get away," he said. They visited the holiday village's clubhouse on the Saturday, with him dressed as Dracula and her as Edward Scissorhands and had a 'good night'. However, after heading out on the Sunday evening and consuming alcohol, they returned to the caravan at approximately midnight. "Everything just changed just like that," he maintained. Rudd, of Birkall Road, Thorntree, Middlesbrough, stated that his partner handed him his cheese on toast but then pressed the bread knife against his throat. He alleged that she declared: "I would love to cut your throat." He insisted that he "definitely" did not consider it a joke. "It's not really something you joke about, to be honest," he said. "I was more scared than anything. I retaliated. We had a heated argument. "She still had the knife in her hand. She came at me so I put my hands up to push her away. "That's when she attacked my face. I defended myself. "She tried to grab my face. I went to the bedroom and started packing my belongings. I just wanted to get out of there." Rudd denied strangling, punching or stamping on his girlfriend, and flatly refused to accept responsibility for any of her injuries. However, the jury dismissed his version of events, finding him guilty. Recorder Nick Worsley KC told Rudd that the woman genuinely believed she was going to die. "The last thing that she saw was your shod foot coming towards her," said Recorder Worsley. "You punched her, stamped on her and strangled her into unconsciousness. You claimed at trial that you acted in self-defence. You denied causing any injuries or bruising and said she was lying. "None of it was true. You told the jury a pack of lies. The jury saw through them and through you." Rudd was handed a three-and-a-half year prison sentence and slapped with an indefinite restraining order. He had been released on bail throughout both the trial and sentencing hearing.