NEIGHBOURS phoned police after seeing a woman dragged away from her window as she screamed: “let me go”.

York Crown Court heard the woman was being subjected to a prolonged attack by her ex-boyfriend, who was drinking inside the house with a friend.

Alan Mitcheson, prosecuting at York Crown Court, said the woman’s then partner, Dwane Andrew Bostock, and his friend Trevor Newey had arrived from a pub carrying vodka and wine and continued drinking on the day of the attack, October 8.

During the incident, which lasted several hours, Bostock pushed the victim on to a sofa and held her in such a way that she was choking for breath.

She wanted to leave the house, but its outside doors were locked. Newey did not intervene to help her, and she became increasingly frightened about why he was there. She was shouting and screaming and at one point went upstairs, but was followed by Bostock who again assaulted her, the court heard.

She returned downstairs and her shouting disturbed the neighbours, who phoned police after they saw her being dragged from the window. While officers were on the way, the men fled out of the back door and climbed over a fence into a back alley.

Bostock, 24, of Chapelfields Road, Acomb, pleaded guilty to affray and assaulting the woman on October 8.

For the assault, he was given a three-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and for affray he received a further nine-month suspended jail term. He also received a two-year supervision order and was told to attend an alcohol programme and an integrated domestic abuse programme.

Newey, 55, of Salisbury Terrace, off Leeman Road, pleaded guilty to affray on the basis that he did try to get Bostock to “back off” and at one point he panicked and “restrained” the woman by pulling her back from the window.

He was given a 12-month community order of 100 hours’ unpaid work for the count of affray.

For Bostock, Taryn Turner, said he drank too much and accepted that he had behaved unacceptably. He had since taken steps to curb his drinking. The woman had been staying in a “place of safety” since the incident and he now accepted their relationship was over. For Newey, Glenn Parsons said he regretted ever going to the woman’s house or starting to drink with his “old friend” Bostock. The incident had lasted several hours. He had been so worried about the consequences of his actions, he had become ill.