Courtney Ambrose Lee, 29, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for two 'utterly terrifying' attacks on women that occurred days apart in London and Salford. The judge said Lee poses 'a continuing and serious danger' and that 'the public cannot be protected by any sentence other than life imprisonment.'
Attacks in London and Salford
Manchester Crown Court heard that a fortnight before the Salford assault, Lee became 'paranoid' towards his then girlfriend, 25, at an address in Tower Hamlets, London. He insisted on examining her phone before accusing her of 'betraying' him. Lee then struck her, causing her nose to bleed, and barricaded the bedroom door with furniture to prevent her escape. The judge said the woman 'genuinely believed' Lee was going to kill her. She eventually managed to flee and seek assistance.
The assault on the second woman occurred in the early hours of 29 March last year. Having left London, Lee was residing in a Salford flat with the victim, who remained unaware of the previous assault. Lee had been taking cocaine and cannabis, and his demeanour shifted following drug use, becoming paranoid once more.
Prolonged assault with a knife
Without warning, Lee turned violent, seizing the woman and hurling her against a door before tossing her about the room. He attacked her with a kitchen knife in what became a 'prolonged' assault, stabbing her multiple times. Despite her pleas for him to stop, Lee persisted, dragging her across the floor by her hair and pulling her towards the balcony of their ninth-floor flat. She broke free and hammered on a neighbour's door before losing consciousness. The judge described her injuries as life-threatening, and she was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.
Sentencing
Lee admitted guilt to false imprisonment, intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm regarding the first attack, and pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for the second incident. He stood trial on an attempted murder charge relating to the Salford attack, from which he was cleared. Lee, of no fixed abode, received a life sentence with a minimum term of seven years and 229 days, plus a consecutive standard 18-month prison term for breaching a previous suspended sentence.
