A CONTROLLING boyfriend who took his girlfriend hostage at knifepoint when she tried to leave him has avoided being sent to prison ‘by the skin of his teeth’ he was told by a judge.
Mark Whiting, 20, who is from Barnsley, locked his girlfriend in the basement flat they shared together in Bridlington after she arrived to collect her belongings with the intention of leaving him.
Hull Crown Court was told Whiting, whose address was given by the court as Welland Crescent, Elsecar, became angry, put her in a headlock and threatened to kill her and her mother who was outside, desperately trying to get in.
The girl said she was ‘terrified’ and the incident has left her upset, anxious, and scared to even go to her supermarket job, in fear of him turning up.
The court was told Whiting, who admitted affray, suffers with depression and anxiety but is not taking any medication. He is currently awaiting assessment because it’s believed he might be on the autistic spectrum.
Judge Jeremy Richardson said the case warranted a custodial sentence but he ‘pulled away from it’ due to Whiting’s vulnerabilities and suspended the sentence instead.
He said: “You have escaped going to prison immediately, by the skin of your teeth.
“I thought it would be a case of immediate prison, but as it’s unfolded I’ve pulled back from that.
“I was tempted to give you a taste of prison for a few days, someone like you would not do very well in prison, you would find it utterly repellent and difficult, I’ve pulled back from that as well because of your mental problems and vulnerability.”
The prosecution had applied to ban Whiting from Bridlington, where he had lived with his girlfriend for five years, but the judge said it would be disproportionate and instead made him the subject of a restraining order to ban him from contacting the victim for five years.
He also ordered him to attend a relationship course.
Judge Richardson said: “This was a nasty incident with a knife and my instinct is to send him to prison.
“But the probation service have made some suggestions because he has got these relationship problems, which probably stems from his thought-to-be autistic state.
“Therefore it seems to me that I should suspend the sentence.”
The court was told since the incident in June, Whiting has now met a new partner and he plans to live with her.
Judge Richardson, speaking directly to Whiting, said: “I repeat, this deserves a prison sentence.
“You must get a grip of your life, you cannot carry on with relationships as you have in the past.
“If you fall from grace and you breach this order, back before me, it is reserved to me and I will send you to prison, regardless of how hard that will be for you.”
Whiting was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years.
