Bournemouth man fled to Thailand after campaign of abuse

Nicholas Daniel Cash’s sickening conduct included shooting his then girlfriend repeatedly with a BB gun, slashing her in the face with a piece of broken glass and locking her in their home alone.

In one particularly abhorrent incident he goaded her into taking an overdose, forced a large number of pills into her mouth before phoning emergency services and giving a false account of what happened.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard he controlled her over a period of nine months, even turning her against her own family through his “manipulative” and “dominating” behaviour.

Cash, 23 and formerly of Bournemouth, did not attend the initial trial date in October last year as he was ‘unwell’ and had a doctor’s note.

Enquiries in recent months revealed he left the country via Dover around a week after the trial date and flew to Thailand with a new partner.

Cash was convicted in absence at a trial in February and his sentencing took place without him on Tuesday, August 9.

Dorset Police confirmed Cash was still a wanted man having issued an appeal in February post-conviction.

The Bournemouth Crown Court sentencing hearing took place without the defendant present (Image: NQ)

Judge Jonathan Fuller KC, who jailed him for eight years, said: “The effect of what the defendant did physically was short-lived and not life-threatening. The motive behind it was mean, callous and designed to humiliate [her] to the maximum.

“It has had a profound effect on [her].”

Judge Fuller KC said the complainant became a “vulnerable young woman” at the hands of the defendant.

He said Cash showed “absolute cowardice” by failing to face the complainant at trial.

Referencing his police interview, Judge Fuller KC said: “He sought to cast himself as the victim, not the perpetrator and he was greatly disparaging of his former partner.”

The judge said, “nothing could be further from the truth”.

“[It was] a gratuitous campaign of coercion, violence and threats designed to humiliate and control her,” Judge Fuller KC said.

Cash was found guilty of coercive and controlling behaviour, maliciously administering poison with intent to injure, aggrieve, or annoy, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one offence of criminal damage.

The court heard the complainant and Cash started a relationship in February 2020 when she was 17 and he was 21.

Prosecutor Althea Brooks gave details on some of the defendant’s conduct that took place in the months that followed in the Bournemouth area.

Outlining the coercive and controlling behaviour, Ms Brooks said Cash discouraged her from wearing make-up, embarrassed her in front of friends and isolated her from members of her family.

He monitored her phone and social media activity and used other people to spy on her.

The defendant abandoned her in public without transport and installed CCTV in their property to control her.

The complainant was locked in at home alone and Cash removed door handles from rooms to restrict her movements.

Ms Brooks said he withheld her pet rabbits and threatened to cause them harm.

She lost two jobs during the relationship because of the defendant, the court heard.

The incident involving medication saw Cash grab her by the throat and goad her to take an overdose.

Judge Fuller KC said he held the back of her head with one hand and held a hand full of pills in the other.

Cash forced them into her mouth and made sure the tablets went down.

The court heard it could have been up to 100 pills in total.

She was gagging on the pills and the defendant put his fingers in her throat to make her sick and bring up some of the pills.

The court heard he told her he did not want the blame. He called the ambulance and reported the incident as a suicide attempt.

A particular “nasty and demeaning” assault in August occurred when the defendant was annoyed about her talking to her friend on the phone.

He held a BB gun to her head and forced her to ring her friend and tell her she did not want to speak to her.

He shot her behind the ear before repeatedly firing the BB gun at her, some from point-blank range and to intimate parts of her body.

He said he would get away with it because of his mental health, the court heard.

The defendant reportedly told the complainant: “He would say the devil made him do it.”

He then smashed her phone, but the complainant had been able to send images of her injuries to her mother.

Another assault in October saw the defendant take a piece of broken glass and slash the complainant’s face. The cut would not stop bleeding, the judge said.

The following month the complainant left the defendant and returned to her parents.

Throughout the whole of their relationship, Cash was seeing another woman.

In a victim personal statement, the complainant said Cash’s offending had “left me a shell of my former self.”

“Whilst the physical injuries have long since healed, the psychological and emotional will take long after the trial to heal if they ever do,” her statement said.

The complainant said she was “deeply frustrated” that Cash was not at trial to be cross-examined, while her experience of the court process made her “almost feel like the suspect myself”.

She said she does not believe she can really fix what the defendant had done.

“I feel extremely let down by the services that were supposed to be there to support me,” she added.

Ms Brooks said the defendant was charged in January 2022 and the case was listed for trial on October 17, 2022.

The complainant attended court but the defendant was not present. A medical note was provided and the trial was relisted for early this year.

The prosecutor said evidence indicated the defendant had been in Thailand having left via Dover on October 24, 2022.

She told the court an intelligence analyst had established Cash’s movements through social media accounts and IP data.

Nicholas Cash, 23 and formerly of Bournemouth (Image: Dorset Police)

Mitigating, Ruby Shrimpton said she was in the “unusual position of having never met the defendant” she was representing.

She said it was “unacceptable” for Cash to not come to court and accept the consequences of his actions.

The defendant was described as an “immature and mentally fragile” young person by Ms Shrimpton.

The complainant’s family were present for the sentencing hearing.

Addressing them at the end of the hearing, Judge Fuller KC said: “I apologise again for the time it has taken for this matter finally to be resolved. I hope the sentence gives closure in a way to [the complainant] but also her family.”

Cash was made subject to a restraining order to run indefinitely.

Anyone who has been a victim of domestic abuse, or anyone who knows someone who is being abused, should report it to Dorset Police. This can be done in confidence.

If abuse is in progress and someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise, contact dorset.police.uk/contact or by calling 101.

The national domestic violence helpline can be contacted on 0808 2000 247.