Man who tried to hurl his girlfriend from top floor balcony in Milton Keynes is jailed for 10 years

Jason Elie, who has already served a prison term for previous domestic abuse, flew into a rage after a phone call with his mother which left him convinced his new girlfriend was responsible for him losing contact with his children.

The 49-year-old called emergency services and told the call handler: "I want the newspapers here."

A judge heard that Elie was standing on the balcony of the third-floor flat in Bridge Street, New Bradwell, with his terrified girlfriend, who had a pillowcase over her head.

Prosecutor Nigel Ogborne said: "An officer described seeing the defendant holding Ms Smith up against the balcony with some force. Police were attempting to, in effect, talk Mr Elie out of the situation.

"Over the girlfriend's head was a pillowcase. She was hooded and could not see what was going on. Mr Elie was shouting out demands to the police to move their vehicle and shouted: 'It is all f***ed up! It was all a setup'.

"He had a screwdriver and he stabbed her with the screwdriver some seven or eight times. By this time, she was screaming. The officer saw Mr Elie try to lift her over the balcony railings and attempt to throw her off."

The court heard Elie had previously been jailed for assaulting a former partner - a woman he hammered on the head in front of her two sons. This left her with an injury which required plastic surgery in an incident of grievous bodily harm with intent, for which he was jailed in January 2014.

Police reinforcements arrived and officers rushed up to the top floor flat and stormed the address, which the prosecutor said gave the victim the opportunity to wriggle free and escape, bringing the incident which had lasted for just under two hours, to an end.

Elie was arrested and told police "I don't have to answer any of your bull**** questions." He was later charged with attempted murder but following a review by a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, he was re-charged with making threats to kill and assault, which he admitted.

The incident happened in the early hours of the morning on February 7.

The court heard that the defendant, who lives in Corin Close, Bletchley, had 20 convictions for 42 offences dating back to May 1991 and had spent various spells in prison after violent assaults and robberies.

Defending Elie, counsel Neil Jarvis said: "His main problem seems to be when he is involved in a relationship. This was a very short term, transient relationship, I think only over a week. When he then begins to take class A drugs with alcohol, the gentleman on the screen before you becomes a completely different character. It is almost like Jekyll and Hyde."

Judge Thomas Rochford, presiding over a digital hearing held via Skype for Business at Aylesbury Crown Court, said he believed Elie was so dangerous that he need to impose an extended sentence to protect the public.

The judge told him: "There was very serious distress to your victim. I can and must infer very considerable and very serious distress to your victim. You display an inability to behave properly in the context of a relationship."

Elie was given a 10-year extended jail sentence, including five years in custody and five years on an extended licence period. He would serve two thirds of the custodial period before the parole board could consider him for release and could be recalled to serve the full 10 years if he failed to comply with his licence conditions.