Christopher Flynn of Compton, who strangled woman until she lost bladder control, breaches suspended sentence order

A MAN has breached a suspended jail term imposed for strangling a woman until she passed out.

The victim was moments from death during the brutal attack, Reading Crown Court heard at the time.

Christopher Flynn had grabbed his victim by the neck and smashed her head into the kitchen table.

He then twisted a tea towel round her neck from behind and pulled it tight until she lost control of her bladder.

Flynn admitted assault by beating and intentional strangulation.

He also has convictions for 25 other previous offences, including assaults causing actual bodily harm, harassment and breaching a restraining order.

Passing sentence on the 53-year-old, of Wilson Close in Compton, Judge Neil Millard said in November, 2023: “I note that it only takes a few seconds for a person to lose control of their bladder because of the effect of lack of oxygen on the brain.

“A few seconds more and they lose consciousness; a few seconds after that and there’s a risk of death.

“That’s why strangulation is such a serious offence.”

Nevertheless he said he would suspend the inevitable prison sentence because Flynn had spent so long in custody already and because prisons were overcrowded.

In addition, the court had been told by Flynn’s defence counsel there was a realistic possibility of rehabilitation in his case.

Flynn was therefore sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

But on Tuesday, last December 17, Flynn was back in the dock, this time at Reading Magistrates’ Court.

There, he admitted breaching the suspended sentence order by committing a further offence while it was still in force.

Legal guidelines state that a suspended sentence should be activated, in full or in part, where it has been breached by the commission of a further offence during its duration, unless it would be “unjust in all the circumstances” to do so.

Magistrates sent the matter back to Reading Crown Court to be dealt with by a judge on a date to be fixed.

Flynn was meanwhile released on unconditional bail.

* IN February last year Flynn was convicted of an offence of assault by beating.

However, that offence pre-dated the imposition of the suspended sentence.