In 2026, a 28-year-old man was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court after subjecting his partner to a series of violent assaults, with a judge warning that his repeated strangulation could have killed her.
Declan Bust, residing in Aspley, Nottingham, appeared before the court for sentencing following an investigation into repeated domestic violence committed between May and August 2024.
The prosecution outlined that Bust and the victim first met in 2016 and entered a relationship the following year before separating. The couple reunited in 2023, but by 2024 Bust’s alcohol consumption escalated, leading to persistent verbal degradation and severe physical attacks. Prosecutors characterised the pattern of offending as a sustained campaign of strangulation.
The court heard details of multiple violent incidents. During one attack, Bust pushed the woman to the ground, straddled her body, and pressed his forearm heavily into her neck, leaving her struggling to draw breath. In the same episode, Bust punched a television set, leaving an indentation on the display. During another dispute inside a car, Bust placed his arms around her throat and told her the violence was her own fault. In a separate assault, Bust wrapped both arms firmly around the victim’s neck and hoisted her body completely off the floor.
During one violent episode, Bust seized the victim’s mobile phone and accessed her banking application, unlawfully transferring £1,700 of her money directly into his personal account. The court also heard that Bust reached for a knife after threatening self-harm if the victim ever ended the relationship or caused him distress.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, the woman described the enduring psychological damage caused by the abuse, explaining that the trauma left her emotionally drained and suffering from chronic nightmares and night sweats.
Mitigating on Bust’s behalf, defence counsel submitted that alcohol had been a significant contributing factor, pointing to difficulties during his upbringing, and noted that no further contact or offences had occurred since the incidents took place.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Auty KC underscored the lethal danger inherent in neck compression, warning Bust that had he sustained his grip for even moments longer, the victim could have easily lost consciousness or suffered fatal asphyxiation.
Judge Auty sentenced Bust to an immediate custodial term of three years’ imprisonment.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a five-year restraining order strictly prohibiting Bust from contacting the victim or approaching her address.
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