Lee Mercer, 45, who strangled his former partner and threatened to murder her and her children, has died while serving his prison sentence.
Jailed for attacks
Mercer, from Skelmersdale, was sentenced to four years and seven months in December 2024 after admitting intentional strangulation, ABH, making threats to kill, and criminal damage.
Preston Crown Court heard that the then-44-year-old attacked his victim twice within four days. During the incidents, he strangled her and made threats to kill.
Threats and violence
Mercer also threatened to kill her children and demanded she choose which child would die first. Prosecutor Andrew MacIntosh said Mercer became aggressive when drinking alcohol and taking cocaine during summer 2024. He destroyed belongings and ruined photographs of the woman with her grandmother, and once threatened suicide as a 'punishment'.
On October 16, the woman was upstairs at home avoiding Mercer, who had been drinking and taking drugs. He called her downstairs because he couldn't get the TV to work. He became angry, put his arm around her neck in a choke hold, and forced her to the ground. As he kicked the bedroom door closed, it hit her wrist, causing pain.
Throughout the night, Mercer strangled and assaulted the woman, struck her face with a vodka bottle, and put a large kitchen knife to her throat, telling her to keep quiet. He later calmed down and said he would never hurt her again.
Second attack
On October 19, after the woman returned from dropping her cousin home, Mercer said they were 'going to have words'. He waved scissors at her, said 'you're going to die', put her in a choke hold, and punched her ribs. He threatened to kill her and her children and ordered her to buy cocaine, warning that if she wasn't back in half an hour, her children would be 'dead'.
The next day, the woman said she needed to take her child to a walk-in centre but instead called her mother and drove to her house, where they reported the attacks to police.
Victim's statement
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "I was literally living in hell. He knew this. He told me I had met the devil referring to himself. I now know he is pure evil."
She said she suffers PTSD and cannot watch TV as it triggers her symptoms. She feels guilty for trying to protect her children, and no longer attends exercise classes or walks daily as she used to.
"I find myself waking up in the night screaming and crying," she said. "I feel like Lee is in bed next to me, calling me a slag and telling me it's going to be me or the kids first."
"I find myself isolating myself inside the house. My friends have noticed how much I have changed. They say I am no longer my happy self and I am closed off."
"It is traumatising. I don't deserve the behaviour he has inflicted on me. Even though he can't get to me I am still afraid. He is the devil - he has not only destroyed my life, he has destroyed me."
Death in prison
After being jailed, Mercer was transferred to HMP Wymott near Leyland, where he died on July 14 this year, aged 45.
A spokesperson for the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said: "An independent investigation into Lee Mercer’s death at HMP Wymott on 14 July 2026 has begun. We will make our final report public after the inquest concludes."
