A man with a "despicable" attitude towards sex workers strangled and suffocated a woman in a degrading attack at her own home.
Daniel Rutter, 34, had known the woman two weeks when he went to her home in Burnsall Gardens, Leeds, on December 18 last year. He turned violent when the woman "accidentally" knocked over his crack pipe and attacked her relentlessly, through to the following day.
Leeds Crown Court heard on Thursday that Rutter continuously punched the woman but she was able to get away and lose him before returning to her flat. Prosecutor Jade Bucklow said she later let him back in, "fearful" of what he would do if she did not.
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Ms Bucklow said: "He went in and was standing in front of the door and punched her. He straddled her and put his hands around her neck and she struggled to breathe. She kicked him in the genitals and it worked and she began to scream. He [Rutter] put a wooly hat over his hand and over her mouth and punched her to her body."
In a basis of plea, Rutter said he did not put the hat over his hand to suffocate the woman, but did it with the intention to stop bleeding after she had bit him. He accepted putting his hand over his mouth. Following a call reporting screaming at the address, officers attended and found Rutter and the woman there.
Rutter also claimed that the woman had already suffered some injuries before he got to the address, including reddening to her face. She suffered two black eyes, cuts to her neck, swelling to her lips, the left-hand side of her jaw and ear. She received treatment at Leeds General Infirmary.
As well as assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation and intentional suffocation, Rutter also fell to be sentenced for failing to comply with notification requirements after he failed to tell police he no longer had a home.
He was interviewed by police on December 19 and provided a pre-prepared statement in which he said he had gone to the woman's house to drink, listen to music and watch television. Ms Bucklow said: "He said they had consensual sex during which she fell and hit her face on the table and chair. The interviewing officer remarked he took issue with her being a prostitute."
The court heard Rutter had 39 previous convictions for 94 offences including 16 offences against a person.
In January last year, HullLive reported that Rutter was arrested for beating his ex-partner in Flamborough and once two women police officers had got him into a van, he made lewd remarks, exposed himself and masturbated. He was released on November 12, 2021, but just four days later police had to intervene after he was involved in an incident with his ex-partner. Rutter had called his ex multiple times, leading her to drive his things over to him before they had sex in a van.
It was then that he attacked her, spitting on her and hitting her twice. When officers arrived to arrest him, he acted aggressively and spat on the two arresting officers with the spit landing on one officer’s face and another officer’s shoulder.
Rutter wasn't finished there however as he proceeded to defecate inside what is known as the "prisoner cage" which is a secure area in the back of a police van with clear perspex sides. He was then sentenced to 18 weeks in prison for assaulting two emergency workers, assault by beating, harassment without violence and causing criminal damage. He denied a charge of exposure but was found guilty.
Mitigating, Michael Walsh, said he had been diagnosed with a condition - which was later said to be the life-shortening Huntington's Disease. Mr Walsh said: "He is realistic about the type of sentence that will be imposed today. The probation service have expressed the view that they don't think they could work with him because of his issues that mean he isn't amenable to them and because he is likely to spend time in custody but they will work with him in custody.
"He is a man with complex issues that arise from his mental health."
Mr Walsh said Rutter was using drugs and to some lesser extent, drink, to self-medicate and "that perfect storm led to anxiety and the commission of these offences".
The barrister added: "He has said to me he wants to be in a position where in the future if he gets involved in stressful situations he acts better than he has before. When he is released he wants to seek assistance in regards to his mental health."
His Honour Judge Robin Mairs jailed Rutter for two years and seven months and told the court that in the pre-sentence report, Rutter stated the woman wanted to be strangled and he "made references" to her role as a sex worker. The judge said the author of the report wrote: "As though that provided explanation for the offences."
He said: "Your attitude to the complainant (who) you beat and strangled over hours is degrading and dehumanising. Because she is a sex worker you deem her to be worthy of the violence you used upon her. Your conduct and attitude towards her is despicable."
Rutter will have to serve up to half of his sentence in custody before being released on licence.
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