Thug who terrorised woman and her children jailed for three years

Jacque Lane, 24, of Shorthill Caravan Park, Crossway Green, Stourport on Severn, had punched the woman to the ground, bitten her ear and face and strangled her son during his campaign of violence and threats after their short-lived relationship came to an end, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

He was eventually caught and put behind bars after fleeing from her home following the final assault but then being tracked down by police helicopter.

Prosecutor Giles Nelson told the court that Lane and the Tewkesbury woman met when he went to do some building work at her home.

They began a relationship which ended about ten weeks later.

Lane would not accept the relationship was over and punched the woman while she was holding her baby in the middle of a street – and then tried to strangle her son during a second attack two days later.

The woman told the judge, Recorder James Watson KC, “It’s crazy that he is still able to contact me, even from prison. I just want all this hell to end.”

Mr Nelson said the woman had decided to break-up with Lane after she got to know of his criminal past when she had a safeguarding meeting with the police.

“The safeguarding meeting was held because Lane was in daily contact with the woman’s children, and this was in contravention of a sexual harm prevention order against him which prohibited any contact with young children," said Mr Nelson.

“On July 22 last year the woman was in a local pub with friends when Lane appeared out of the blue and told her that she was leaving with him right now, despite the fact that they had already separated.

“The woman asked the group of Asian friends she was with to remain with her at this point. Lane then became racially abusive to these women, although he has not been charged with this offence.

“Lane then grabbed hold of the woman and threw her to the ground and told her ‘This is what is going to happen. I am going to put a sledgehammer through every window of your house’.

“The woman became so frightened by these threats that she went home and gathered up her children to go to a friend’s address.

“She was walking along the road with her children, and was carrying her infant, when Lane appeared and punched her in the face. She fell to the ground and smashed her head on the concrete.

"Lane then verbally abused the children and swore at them. He told them ‘See what I can do. I will smash your mum’s house,' which frightened them.

“Lane then pulled the woman along the road by her hair, during which she managed to pass her infant to her elder son and told the children to run as fast as they could to the friend’s house.

“Lane then bit into the woman’s ear and face and she began shouting for help. The woman managed to get away from Lane for a short period of time and was close to her friend’s address where Lane thumped her on the back of her head and she was knocked to the ground again.”

The court heard that the woman later attended hospital and she was relieved to be told that nothing had been fractured or she was suffering from any head injury or other internal injuries.

The court was told that a panic alarm was installed at the woman’s address the next day.

Mr Nelson explained that two days after the initial assault, Lane went back to the woman’s address at 10.15pm and managed to get in.

“The woman shouted at her eldest son to ring the panic alarm, which was upstairs. However, Lane grabbed hold of the boy by the leg to stop him going upstairs.

"He then put his hands around the boy’s throat and threw him on the sofa. He told him ‘You ain’t pushing no panic button’. The other children all witnessed this assault taking place.

“The boy states he couldn’t breathe with Lane’s hands around his neck and that his grip was very tight.

“Lane continued to use abusive language towards the boy throughout the assault. He also assaulted the woman and when Lane realised that the panic alarm was going to be activated, he fled the scene, but hid locally.

“The police required the use of a helicopter to flush Lane out from where he was hiding.”

The court was told that in his police interview Lane accepted that he had been drunk on both occasions. He denied going to the woman’s address on the first occasion and said he had gone to the house on July 25 in order to retrieve his belongings and he dfid not accept that he had used any violence.

The victim gave a personal statement to the court and explained that she had received five unwanted letters from Lane while he had been remanded in custody.

She said: “As a result of Lane’s assault on me and my family, we have lost everything. I have lost my self-confidence and my children have become petrified with one of them suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. My son now has to have high intensive emotional therapy. I can no longer trust anybody.

“My children used to be happy but now they are living in fear over what happened.

“I don’t want Lane near me, or my children ever again. He is obsessed with me. He still wants me and I emphasise, I don’t want anything to do with him.

“I fear he will contact me when he is released from prison. A restraining order is essential.

“He maintains that if he can’t have me, nobody else can have me. I want my life back and I don’t know how I can do that with Lane still being infatuated with me. I want him to leave us alone.”

Jason Aris, defending, said: “This is a case that crosses the custody threshold by a significant margin. I would like to reassure the complainant that Lane does not want not want anything more to do with her. He is hugely apologetic for his behaviour.

“He admits that his actions were disgraceful. He would like to provide her with some reassurance that when he is eventually released from custody he will not attempt to contact her or the children. He would like her to think of him as a very distant and bad memory that she can forget over time.

“At the age of 24, he is finally showing signs of maturity. He has learnt his lesson, having served a number of custodial sentence. He now realises that if he doesn’t buck up his ideas, he will become institutionalised for the rest of his life. He wants to demonstrate in due course that he has turned a corner of his life.”

Lane pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting a woman causing her grievous bodily harm on July 23 and assaulting the same woman by beating on July 25, 2022. He also admitted assaulting a child under the age of 14 causing him grievous bodily harm on July 25, 2022.

Recorder Watson told Lane: “These were three very serious offences. You attacked your former partner with such violence that she would find difficult in maintaining her grasp on her infant child she was holding in her arms.

“This court has to take into account not only the injuries sustained, but the risk of injury and the first attack could have easily harmed the baby.

“The woman was the real victim of those punches you delivered to her face as she was unable to defend herself. You also bit her. All the children witnessed what you did to their mother.

“You returned to the property where she was staying two days later and attacked the woman’s young son. You tried to prevent him from activating the panic alarm. You placed your hands around his throat to restrict his breathing. This has a lasting effect on the child.

“For a powerful adult to attack a child of this age in that manner is an event that will be horrifying to the young victim. You were arrested with the help of the police helicopter and have been remanded in custody ever since.

“Fortunately for all concerned, there was no trial, sparing the victims giving evidence in front of a jury.

“In sentencing you today, I have to take into account your previous offending, which shows a pattern of violence.”

The judge sentenced Lane to a prison term of 36 months and ordered him to pay a mandatory surcharge. He also subjected Lane to a 10-year restraining order not to contact his victims by any means.

Despite the defence lawyer's assurance that Lane did not want anything further to do with the woman, Lane shouted "I love you" to her as he was taken down to the cells.