Man Strangled Girlfriend, Fled Home, Masturbated In Front Of Stranger Minutes Later

A man masturbated in front of a stranger minutes after he was caught strangling his girlfriend, a court in the United Kingdom heard Monday.

The court heard that 33-year-old Thomas Crux met his girlfriend in September 2017 and issues started cropping up between the two because Crux was still friends with an ex-girlfriend. In May 2018, Crux and his unidentified girlfriend were having an argument at her home when he suddenly “pinned her to the floor” and started “strangling her.” Three people, who heard the woman screaming, got into the home by ripping the window from its frame and stopped the attack.

Addressing Crux, Judge Emma Peters said he had been drinking "quite a lot” before the attack.

Explaining the incident, Peters said, "You go to the toilet and get your penis out, which you said was because you needed the toilet. That caused her to say 'I don't want to have sex with you tonight.’ You grabbed her arm and pinned her to the floor. She was crying saying 'get off me' and you shouted at her 'I'm going to kill you.' She believed that and she was screaming. You had your hands around her neck and at that stage you were astride her."

Just then, three people, who heard the woman screaming, intervened. "They saw you strangling her, thank goodness they stopped. It wasn't until they actually pulled the window out of its frame that you ran away,” Peters added.

Crux left the home, saw a woman walking alone on the street and started masturbating.

"She was walking alone when she heard heavy breathing, it was just you and her in the street and you had your penis in your hand. She crossed the road and you followed, continuing to masturbate. She got you to walk past her and she saw a police car, you were pulled over because they were out looking for you,” the judge continued.

The prosecutor told the court that Crux had a "background of domestic violence and targeting females." He was convicted for "punching a stranger" in a pub in 2004 and "exposing his penis to three nine-year-old girls” in 2009.

Crux was sentenced to six years in prison for “grievous bodily harm with intent,” and given a four-year extended license period for threatening to kill and exposure.