‘Love bomber’ strangled victim on a date and threatened to kill her

Callam Whyatt also threatened to ‘take her mum’ if she did not contact him, but he has been spared jail.

He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday to be sentenced, with prosecutor Christopher Taylor stating that the 35-year-old first met his victim through the dating app Hinge.

The two began messaging, with the victim eventually giving him her number to text over WhatsApp.

In these messages, Whyatt was ‘moving too quickly’ according to the victim and began asking her about being her boyfriend and children.

Despite this, the victim suggested though that the two of them could meet in person to get to know each other.

It was on the evening of July 21 that the pair met in Warrington town centre at the Barley Mow pub, in Old Market Place.

While there, the victim said Whyatt began ‘love bombing’ her and ‘expressing feelings of love’.

Mr Taylor told the court that the victim said she ‘wasn’t there yet’, as it was their first date, and noticed that the 35-year-old was getting ‘very drunk’.

The court heard that she suggested they should go and get some water before they went to Bank Park to ‘talk for a little while’, and then on to another bar.

There, it was heard the victim tried to involve other people in their conversation due to the fact he was continuing to ‘love bomb’ her.

She told him she would be leaving at 9.30pm, to which he replied suggesting they could get a hotel. She told him no and that she would be going home.

Mr Taylor told the court that this appeared to ‘annoy’ Whyatt before the pair left the bar.

CCTV footage showed the victim walking along Sankey Street before Whyatt ran after her (Image: Google Maps)CCTV footage played in court showed the complainant walking along Sankey Street when Whyatt ran after her.

The pair were seen to talk for about two minutes before Whyatt attacked her.

The court heard that the victim felt Whyatt put his right arm around her neck from behind, and that she began ‘choking’ and ‘losing oxygen’.

As the footage played, Mr Taylor explained that Whyatt strangled the victim for about ten seconds, before the victim fell to the ground.

A member of the public, referred to in court as a ‘good Samaritan’, then approached Whyatt and a couple came to help the woman off the ground.

A second clip of footage was also played in court, taken on a mobile phone from the driver of a passing car, which showed Whyatt pushing the member of the public before walking away.

The couple who went to the victim’s aid then gave her a lift home, where she showed the building’s security his picture and asked them not to let him in if he appeared.

Although Whyatt did not appear at her address, he did send her a number of messages and calls within the space of 10 to 15 minutes.

“You don’t want to make an enemy of me,” one of the messages read.

“You have got one chance, if you don’t agree I’ll kill you in the street. You’re dead walking if you don’t agree,” said another.

The 35-year-old dad-of-one also threatened the victim that he would take matters ‘international’ by ‘taking’ her mum, who lives in Thailand

An impact statement read out to the court on behalf of the victim stated that she now struggles to do ‘everyday mundane tasks’.

“It has caused me great anxiety and distress as I’m fearful of my life, as well as my mother’s life,” the statement read.

“I thought his threats to be plausible.”

The statement also said that the victim feels Whyatt could be capable of harming or harassing other women.

Whyatt appeared via video link at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Image: NQ)

Defending, Jim Smith told the court that Whyatt served in the army between 2005 and 2012 before he was discharged due to a ‘serious injury’ in Afghanistan.

He also shared that Whyatt, who has been kept on remand in prison, suffers with PTSD and that when he hears cell doors ‘banging’ and ‘screams’ from other prisoners, it is ‘distressing’.

The court heard that the dad-of-one travels to Thailand every year for four to five months at a time to help support his son, who lives there with his estranged wife, and helps to support them financially.

Sentencing, recorder Tim Harrington described the incident as ‘appalling’.

“During the course of the evening, you had far too much to drink,” he said.

“She left the bar where you were, and you followed her. You were annoyed with her and what you did next was appalling.”

Recorder Harrington told Whyatt that he deemed his victim to have been in a ‘vulnerable’ position when he attacked her, as she was alone with him at night on a date.

However, Whyatt, of Bryntirion in Rhewl-Mostyn, north Wales, who has nine previous convictions for 15 different offences, including a history of harassment, was spared jail.

The 35-year-old was sentenced to a total of 23 months imprisonment, suspended over two years.

He must also complete 45 rehabilitation activity days and the Building Better Relationships programme within two years.

A restraining order was also put in place for the next five years, during which time Whyatt can not contact the victim, or he could face imprisonment.

“If you breach it then you will be committing an offence which is imprisonable,” said Mr Recorder Harrington.