November 2026

Pervert who groomed child in Lincolnshire before biting and strangling her was ‘too tired’ to attend court

A 41-year-old man who sexually abused an underage girl, bit and strangled her, and threatened to share secret recordings of her online has been jailed for nine years and ten months.

Lee Saxton was 40 when he met the girl and knew her age from the outset, Nottingham Crown Court heard. He began sexually abusing her four months later, pressuring her into sexual activity and repeatedly filming her without her knowledge.

The court heard that Saxton used the recordings as a way of keeping the girl under his control. When she threatened to report him for assaulting her, he said he would share the videos on Facebook.

In one terrifying attack at a caravan park in the Skegness area, Saxton bit the girl on her forehead, nose, arms and finger. He strangled her so that she struggled to breathe, while telling her: “Die, no-one gives a f* about you.”**

The frightened girl called 999, but Saxton snatched away her phone and ended the call.

When police arrived, the caravan was empty. Officers later found the girl in a nearby pub with a bruise on her cheek. She initially denied being with Saxton and gave officers misleading information.

She called a man she described as her friend’s father, who gave his name as “Steve”. Officers concluded that the man was Saxton and that the girl was not safe. They took her to a police station and contacted social services.

The court heard that Saxton had previously been arrested after the girl reported an assault. Despite being bailed on conditions requiring him to stay away from her, he resumed sexual contact with her immediately.

Prosecutor Jeremy Janes described the relationship as being marked by a “huge imbalance of power.”

Saxton, of South Street, Eastwood, admitted eight counts of sexual activity with a child, strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, sexual communication with a child and causing the sexual exploitation of a child. He pleaded guilty on the day his trial was due to begin.

His sentencing was delayed after he complained of chest pains and was taken to hospital. The following day, he refused to attend by video link from prison, claiming he was too “tired”.

Recorder William Davis told Saxton: “You knew from the outset any sexual activity with her was wrong and should not have happened.”

Saxton was jailed for nine years and ten months, made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register for life.