Nicholas Cash, 26, has been jailed for nine years and four months at Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting a campaign of abuse against his ex-girlfriend, which included flushing her pet rabbit down a toilet. He was sentenced on Tuesday, October 6, and cried as the sentence was passed.
Campaign of abuse
Cash subjected his former partner to months of controlling and coercive behaviour. He shot at her with a BB gun, locked her in their shared home, and cut her face with broken glass. He also encouraged her to take an overdose and forced pills down her throat, and stopped her from wearing makeup while checking her mobile phone and social media.
The victim contacted police after Cash flushed one of her rabbits down the toilet, according to the Daily Mail.
Flee to Thailand
Cash had been due to stand trial in 2022, but reportedly claimed he was not well enough to attend court. He then fled to Thailand with a new partner and baby, and is said to have eventually abandoned them.
He was found guilty in his absence on February 24, 2023, for controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage, and administering a poisonous or noxious substance with intent. Dorset Police worked with the Royal Thai Police, National Crime Agency, Foreign Office, and the National Extradition Unit to bring him back to the UK.
Cash was tracked down in Thailand and arrested by Royal Thai Police on December 23 last year. He was then extradited to Britain, where officers met his plane at Heathrow Airport.
Sentencing and impact
Ruby Shrimpton, defending Cash, said at the time of the trial that her client was frightened at the prospect of being jailed, which led to his "impulsive" act to flee the UK.
The defendant was jailed for eight years for domestic abuse and another 16 months for breaching a suspended sentence relating to offences against another victim.
Det Cons Michael White from Dorset Police said: "At the centre of our extensive efforts to locate Nicholas Cash and bring him to justice was the victim of his abusive behaviour. We have continued to keep her updated and I hope this case demonstrates we will do absolutely everything in our power to ensure perpetrators are not able to escape the consequences of their actions."
In a statement from Cash's original trial, the woman said what he did to her was "sickening" but she was too scared to leave him. She added: "When I did finally leave he flushed one of my pet rabbits down the toilet, killing it. That was the last straw for me to go to the police.
"It was really hard going through the trial, being questioned by his lawyer while he was living it up in Thailand. I'm still unable to sleep. I have horrific nightmares about him coming to snatch me back. I feel emotionally blunted and numb most of the time.
"I have very serious trust issues and I'm very uncomfortable in social settings. Before I was a social and outgoing person. I felt a part of the world I lived in and was comfortable in my own skin. He took all that away from me."
