Man ‘who shot woman dead while holding her hostage’ had history of abusing women
A man suspected of shooting his former partner after taking her hostage has a history of abusing women, it has been revealed.
Jacob Cloke, 29, died on Thursday evening after an ‘hour-long’ armed-stand off with police on May 6 ended in him suffering fatal wounds.
The stand off happened when firearms officers and trained negotiators were sent to 36-year-old Hayley Burke’s house in Dartford, Kent, over reports of the mum being held hostage.
Hayley died on Monday and then Cloke succumbed to his injuries three days later, after being named as a suspect by police.
Both deaths will now be investigated by a coroner and inquest hearings will take place at a later date.
It has since emerged that Cloke was facing multiple charges relating to abusing Hayley and had previously served time behind bars for attacking a different woman.
Most recently, on April 18, Cloke allegedly turned up at Hayley’s house, entered her bedroom, slammed the door and refused to let her out.
He reportedly threatened to break her puppy’s paws and spat in her face before eventually leaving.
When he returned the next morning, Hayley felt scared and called the police leading to Cloke’s arrest.
He is also accused of threatening to kill Hayley on February 24 last year, when she woke up to him allegedly shaking her before he grabbed her by the throat, causing her to pass out.
When the mum-of-two still felt unwell days later, she went to the hospital where a bleed to the brain was discovered.
Cloke was jailed for two years in 2021 after pleading guilty to assaulting another woman in October the previous year.
Maidstone Crown Court heard he punched her as she held their baby and threatened to ‘put the baby in the ground’ if she called police – although a charge of making threats to kill was later dropped.
At the time, prosecutor Tanya Robinson told how Cloke ‘slapped the woman across the face and punched her hard in the ribs’ despite her ‘pleading with him to stop’.
Cloke, who struggled with cocaine addiction, then allowed the mum to go to the shops to withdraw money for him so he could buy more drugs – but made sure the child stayed behind.
On her return she was punched ‘with a clenched fist’ on multiple occasions, later telling police she was worried ‘that she was not going to make it out alive’.
Two days later, the victim sent a video to her friends asking them to help, and even reqesting that one check she was alive after a certain point.
When police eventually arrived, Cloke was hiding outside and was arrested.
Cloke’s criminal career started at 14, when he landed before Medway Juvenile Court and served several spells in jail for a raft of wide-ranging offences.
Over the next few years he became prolific in committing a string of driving offences, including taking and driving away and driving without insurance or a licence.
By May 2010 he moved on to burglaries and then in following years, drink driving, robbery and criminal damage.
In September 2015 he faced a charge of possessing a designated fighting dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Simon Taylor, defending at the time, said Cloke was a cocaine addict and has since been diagnosed with severe adult ADHD.
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