Man sent to prison for strangling a Stevenage woman he just met

A ‘dangerous’ man was jailed for 12 years at St Albans Crown Court this week for trying to strangle a Stevenage woman he had only just met – just two days after being released from prison.

Joshua Taylor, age 32, previously from Letchworth was found guilty of strangulation, false imprisonment, ABH and two assaults on police following a five-day trial in October last year.

He appeared at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday 19 June.

The court heard how he met a woman in a pub in Stevenage on 30 July 2022 and they shared a taxi. 

Detective Constable Pippa Mason said: “Taylor insisted the woman came back to the Holiday Inn in St Georges Way, where he was staying. As soon as they reached his room, Taylor became aggressive towards the woman physically assaulting her and causing her to fear for her own life. When she tried to escape, he pulled her by her hair and put a mobile phone charger around her neck, so she was unable to breathe.”

Eventually she was able to escape by putting her fingers between the ligature and her neck and she got into a lift and got help from staff at the hotel.

She said: “He punched the victim repeatedly to the face. She was left with severe injuries to her eyes and she was covered in bruises, most notably on her neck, resulting in ABH injuries.”

When he was arrested, he punched an officer in the face.  He bit an officer on the head and a second officer on the finger and had to be restrained by three police officers in the hotel.

Taylor has previously served a jail sentence in Plymouth in 2021 where he had assaulted another woman who also feared for her life. He was released on 28 July 2022.

DC Mason said: “Taylor could easily have killed the woman, who he had just met. Fortunately she was able to escape and get help.  This was a terrifying ordeal for the woman, who received serious injuries to her neck and her eyes.  The impact of that night has had an understandably devastating impact on her, she has struggled psychologically and suffers from PTSD which has caused her to move house.  She is relieved that Taylor has been put behind bars for a number of years. The judge recognised how dangerous Taylor is and imposed a lengthy sentence. I hope this sends out a reassuring message to all women and girls.”

Recorder Stephen Lennard described Taylor as a ‘dangerous offender’ and said the likelihood of him re-offending was extremely high so applied the extended sentence to protect women. 

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