Courtney Ambrose Lee, 29, has been jailed for life for launching 'utterly terrifying' attacks on women. The attacks occurred within days of each other, with his former partner 'genuinely believing' he would kill her, and a second victim left with life-threatening injuries after an incident in a Salford flat.
Judge: 'You pose a continuing and serious danger'
Judge Nicholas Dean KC told Lee: "You pose a continuing and serious danger. The public cannot be protected by any sentence other than life imprisonment."
Manchester Crown Court heard that two weeks before the Salford attack, Lee became 'paranoid' towards his then partner, aged 25, at a property in Tower Hamlets, London. He demanded to see her phone, then accused her of 'betraying' him. Lee punched her, causing her nose to bleed, and prevented her from leaving the bedroom by barricading the door with furniture. He punched her again and locked the door. The judge said the woman 'genuinely believed' Lee was going to kill her. She eventually managed to escape and ran for help.
Knife attack in Salford flat
The attack on the second woman happened in the early hours of March 29 last year. Lee had left London and was staying in a flat in Salford with the victim, who was unaware of the assault in the capital. Lee was using cocaine and cannabis, and his behaviour changed after using cocaine, again becoming paranoid.
He suddenly became violent, grabbing her and throwing her against a door, then throwing her around the room. Lee stabbed her with a kitchen knife and subjected her to a 'prolonged' knife attack, stabbing her repeatedly. She begged him to stop, but he continued. He dragged her around the floor by her hair and at one point towards the balcony of the ninth-floor flat. She escaped and banged on a neighbour's door for help before collapsing. The judge said her injuries were life-threatening, and she was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.
Guilty pleas and sentence
Lee pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the first attack, and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to the second. He was acquitted of attempted murder in relation to the Salford attack.
Lee, of no fixed address, was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of seven years 229 days. He was also handed a consecutive standard 18-month prison sentence for breaching a previous suspended sentence.
