A man who strangled his former partner and threatened to murder her and her children has died in prison.
Lee Mercer, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, received a four-year and seven-month sentence after admitting guilt in December 2024 to charges including intentional strangulation, ABH, making threats to kill and criminal damage.
Preston Crown Court was told the then 44-year-old assaulted his victim across two separate attacks within a four-day period. Throughout the disturbing episodes, Mercer throttled the woman and issued death threats.
He also vowed to kill her children and demanded she select which child would die first. Prosecutor Andrew MacIntosh revealed Mercer’s behaviour turned violent when consuming alcohol and cocaine during summer 2024.
He destroyed belongings and defaced photographs showing the woman with her grandmother, reports Lancs Live. On one instance he threatened to take his own life as a ‘punishment’.
View 2 ImagesMercer was caged at HMP Wymott(Image: MSM)
On October 16, the woman remained upstairs in her home, keeping distance from Mercer as he’d been drinking and using drugs. Nevertheless, he summoned her downstairs as he couldn’t operate the television.
Mercer grew irate and wrapped his arm round the woman’s neck in a chokehold, forcing her to the floor. The woman’s ankle was in agony and when Mercer booted the bedroom door shut, it struck her wrist, inflicting pain.
Throughout the night, Mercer throttled the woman and inflicted violence upon her. During one incident, he smashed a vodka bottle into her face, the court was told.
He also held a large kitchen knife against her throat while instructing her to remain silent. Later, Mercer appeared to settle and promised the woman he would never harm her again.
Yet on October 19, Mercer informed the woman they were ‘going to have words’ following an evening where she’d dropped her cousin home after drinking and enjoying music together. Brandishing a pair of scissors at the woman, he declared, ‘you’re going to die’ before placing his arm round her neck in a stranglehold while punching her ribs.
He issued threats to murder her and her children, then demanded she purchase cocaine for him – cautioning that failure to return within half an hour would result in her children being ‘dead’.
The next day, the woman claimed she needed to take her child to the walk-in centre but contacted her mother, revealing she required assistance. She made her way to her mother’s residence where both women alerted police to the assaults.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “I was literally living in hell. He knew this. He told me I had met the devil referring to himself. I now know he is pure evil.”
She disclosed that she experiences PTSD and cannot watch television as it provokes her symptoms. She carries guilt for attempting to shield her children while Mercer issued death threats against them.
She no longer participates in exercise classes or daily walks as she previously did. “I find myself waking up in the night screaming and crying,” she said.
“I feel like Lee is in bed next to me, calling me a slag and telling me it’s going to be me or the kids first.
“I find myself isolating myself inside the house. My friends have noticed how much I have changed. They say I am no longer my happy self and I am closed off.
“It is traumatising. I don’t deserve the behaviour he has inflicted on me. Even though he can’t get to me I am still afraid. He is the devil – he has not only destroyed my life, he has destroyed me.”
Following his imprisonment, Mercer was relocated to HMP Wymott, situated near Leyland, where he passed away on 14 July this year at the age of 45.
A representative for the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman commented: “An independent investigation into Lee Mercer’s death at HMP Wymott on 14 July 2026 has begun. We will make our final report public after the inquest concludes.”
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