'My boyfriend left me looking like this, and was in jail for just two months'

A woman who was dragged through the streets, beaten unconscious and almost strangled to death by her boyfriend has blasted the justice system - after he was released just two months after sentencing. Mandy Russell, 35, was attacked by her partner after a night out in Hornchurch, Essex.

She says he dragged her for 45 minutes through dark streets and into a park, where she says he repeatedly "smashed her face into a lamppost" and tried to strangle her. He pleaded guilty to GBH with intent, strangulation with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

On May 6, 2025, he was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court to 26 months in prison, given a 10-year restraining order, and ordered to pay a £228 victim surcharge. But in July, Mandy was stunned to receive a call telling her he had already been released.

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Mandy, a hairdresser, from Romford, Essex, said: "He would have killed me. I just knew if the police hadn't shown up, he would have gone all the way. When I was told about the release I was just like what? It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was crying, I was angry, I was emotional, I was upset. I felt sick.

"It's a bit of a kick in the teeth. Now I can see why so many women drop charges. What is the point when they are getting released two months after sentencing? It's disgusting."

A Prison Service spokesperson said eight months on remand awaiting sentencing were deducted from his sentence. Mandy says the pair were initially friends but their relationship turned romantic in 2022 after her previous relationship ended.

"It was a loving relationship at first" she said. "He would buy me flowers every week. He would come and bring me lunch to work, he bought me perfume. It was good. But my heart just wasn’t in it. We were like chalk and cheese."

The couple had been together for two years and had been on a night out at a local pub when he "saw red" on the way home - on September 1, 2024. Mandy said: "We had a really good night. I don't remember anything flagging up."

But after he demanded they leave the pub around 12.30am, she says her partner grabbed her by the wrist and began "dragging [her] down the street by my arms," she said.

He dragged Mandy to a local park where she fell to the ground and clung onto a lamppost - which she then says he used "as a weapon".

"I held onto this lamppost and because I didn't let go, he started smashing my face on the lamppost whacking it back and forth," she said. "I knocked out at about that point. I remember my strength going and he got the better of me."

She says he then tried to suffocate and strangle her. "I said 'you're going to kill me'. And I didn't get a response from him - it was just like blank, no emotion, absolutely nothing. It was like he wasn’t there."

An Uber driver spotted her and called police. Her partner fled but was chased and arrested two days later. Mandy was taken to Queen’s Hospital in Romford with two broken teeth, bleeding from her ears and eyes, swelling, and heavy bruising.

"I remember waking up in the back of the police car and crying for my mum," she said. "My anxiety was through the roof waiting for the CT scan." Luckily, the CT was clear and after two days in hospital, Mandy was discharged.

She couldn't return to work for a month and slept in her mum's bed for three weeks, terrified he might return. "He was still on the run for two days," Mandy said. "I was petrified. I slept in my mum's bed and I had my sister sleeping on the floor by the bed because she didn’t want to leave my side. I was too scared to have back doors or windows open.

"My parents couldn't go out to Tesco or anything without leaving me."

Her partner was arrested on September 3 and charged with GBH with intent after he "unlawfully and maliciously caused grievous bodily harm to Mandy with intent to do her grievous bodily harm". He was also charged with strangulation with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed self-defence - but changed his plea to guilty on the day of trial in February 2025. "I was relieved, I didn't want to go through giving evidence," Mandy said. "But at the same time I wanted to see what he was going to say. So I felt like I was left in the dark a little bit."

The trauma has left her unable to trust men. "It’s thrown me back 100 steps. I think I will always have my guard up with men going forward," she said. "I don't want to live my life on edge."

"I had to have anxiety tablets and counselling to help me through."

Mandy now wants to highlight failings in the justice system - especially around strangulation. "These men deserve to be behind bars. Strangulation and suffocation needs to be taken seriously. It needs to change. The system is messed up. No wonder why so many females don't come forward."

She’s also urging women to use Clare’s Law to check if a partner has a history of domestic abuse. "It can save a girl’s life. The next girl might not be so lucky."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "This was a horrible crime and our thoughts remain with the victim. Offenders who spend time in prison awaiting trial have this time counted towards their prison sentence. When released from prison on licence they are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to send them back to prison if they break the rules."