Brave mum fought off abusive partner who bragged ‘I kidnap kids for a living’
A mum had to fend off her violent partner with a chair as he bragged ‘I get paid to kidnap kids for a living’.
Daniel Rush subjected the woman to a horrifying ordeal in December 2021, during which he held a knife to her throat and brutally beat her.
Her children were sleeping upstairs while the victim was wrapping Christmas presents when the 28-year-old arrived at her home.
She had to fight back as he tried to force his way past her, throwing a chair at his face to stop him from getting to their bedroom.
Rush, who had been in a relationship with the woman for a few months, warned her that someone else would take her children if he was jailed.
The horrifying attack in the Newbiggin Hall area of Newcastle began after deranged Rush accused her of ‘grassing’ on him and became convinced her phone was bugged.
He left in a rage but returned 20 minutes later after downing a quarter of a bottle of gin.
When the victim tried to walk away and go to bed, he turned violent.
Prosecutor Neil Jones told Newcastle Crown Court: ‘The defendant dragged her from there by her hair into the kitchen and put both hands around her neck and she was struggling to breathe.
‘She tried to break free and he pushed her into a chair and put his arm around her neck in a headlock from behind.
‘He made her sit in the chair and when she tried to get up he punched her in the face three or four times.
‘She said she needed the toilet and he told her to p*** on the floor. He then poured a two litre bottle of fizzy drink onto her person and she tried to run to the passage but in doing so slipped.
‘He then kicked her up the backside and threw her about the kitchen, causing a cut to her knee where a scar burst open.’
Rush menacingly threatened her: ‘I’ve hurt you, you understand I will have to kill you’.
The court heard how she made it ‘her mission’ to stop the thug from getting to her children, managing to inflict an injury to his face with a chair that needed hospital treatment.
When she managed to raise the alarm, he bragged about kidnapping children, adding: ‘If I go back to prison someone is going to take your kids.
‘They are not the sort of people you want to f**k with, they will put your door in and take your kids.’
The court heard a statement from the woman, who said she remains ‘frightened for myself and my children’.
She continued: ‘He has mentioned people would come and take my kids and I believe he knows people who would do this.
‘I’m afraid if I leave the house someone will kick the door in and take the kids.
‘My kids were in the house at the time and I believed he was going to try to kill me and get to my kids and I had to protect them.
‘I’m afraid he or other people will try to get to me or my kids and I don’t feel safe in my home.’
His lawyer Brian Hegarty said they were ‘empty threats, unpleasant though they were’.
Rush, who has 32 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assaulting two emergency workers after attacking police after his arrest, including spitting and headbutting them.
He was jailed for a total of 18 months and given an indefinite restraining order by Recorder Mark Giuliani.
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