Controlling boyfriend who flushed his partner’s rabbit down the toilet is still on the run in Thailand: Fugitive felon, 23, is jailed after a campaign of abuse in which he shot the victim with a BB gun and incited her to to overdose

A man who flushed his girlfriend’s rabbit down the toilet has been sentenced to eight years in prison, but the convict remains on the run.

Nicholas Cash, 23, from Bournemouth, Dorset, controlled and coerced Olivia Croft, 21, during their nine-month relationship.

Cash claimed he was too ill to attend his trial in October, but then fled to Thailand with a new partner.

During the relationship with Miss Croft, he cut her face with a piece of broken glass, locked her in their house and shot her repeatedly with a BB gun.

He also pushed her to overdose before shoving a large number of pills down her throat.

When Miss Croft began to retch, Cash called an ambulance and told the operator that she had attempted suicide.

He threatened to hurt Miss Croft and her family if she revealed the truth, saying she was ‘not worth going to jail for’.

Cash stabbed Miss Croft in the hair, making her a vulnerable and isolated young woman.

He stopped her from wearing makeup, monitored her cell phone and social media usage, and showed up at work to humiliate her in front of co-workers, causing her to lose two jobs.

He used other people to spy on her and even locked her in their house, removed door handles and installed CCTV to keep an eye on her.

Miss Croft said that when she finally left him, Cash drowned one of her rabbits by flushing it down the toilet.

When arrested, Cash tried to portray himself as the victim, but police refused to believe his story and charged him with controlling and coercive behavior.

Cash claimed he was too ill to attend his trial last October and had a doctor’s note.

Yet he showed “absolute cowardice” by flying to Thailand with a new partner.

Cash was found guilty and sentenced in his absence from Bournemouth Crown Court.

After the case, Miss Croft, who has a new job as a carer, said: ‘The things he did to me were sickening, but I was too scared to leave because I didn’t want him to hurt anyone else.

“He abused me relentlessly, emotionally and physically.

“I had to be strong in the end because I knew it would only get worse and worse.

“When I finally left, he flushed one of my rabbits down the toilet and killed it.

That was the last straw for me to go to the police.

“It feels like a weight off my shoulders now that it’s done, but I don’t think it would have mattered how long he got.

“It was very difficult going through the process, being questioned by his lawyer while he was living in Thailand.

‘I still can’t sleep. I have horrible nightmares that he’s coming to get back at me. I feel emotionally numb and numb most of the time.

“I have very serious trust issues and I am very uncomfortable in social settings.

“I used to be a social and outgoing person. I felt part of the world I lived in and was comfortable in my own skin. He took all that from me.’

The court heard that the couple began a relationship in February 2020, when Miss Croft was just 17. Within just three weeks, Cash had taken control of her.

Althea Brooks, prosecutor, said, “His controlling behavior caused her to change in a number of ways. It caused her to become isolated in her own home, she was discouraged from wearing makeup and fake tan, she was embarrassed in front of her colleagues, isolated from family.

He monitored her phone usage and social media activity, verified her whereabouts and made it clear that he was doing that and used other people to spy on her for him.

He repeatedly broke her cell phone, had relationships with other women, left her in public without transportation, locked her in her own home, removed handles from doors, and installed cameras to intimidate her.

When she ended the relationship, he made vicious, violent threats to her and her family. He was violent to her on a regular basis, strangling her, dragging her by the hair, punching, shoving and beating her and causing visible injuries.’

The court heard that when they quarreled, he would drag Miss Croft by her hair and “throw her about like an object.”

During another altercation, Cash shot his victim about 20 times with his gas-operated BB gun, some at point-blank range, hitting her leg, chest, behind her ear, and her buttocks.

He warned her that if she showed anyone the marks, he would tell them that she was taking heroin and that was responsible for the marks.

On another occasion, when Miss Croft was about to leave their house for a jog, Cash pulled her hair, shot her again with the BB gun, and picked up a piece of glass from a broken picture frame with which he slashed her cheek.

In the verdict, Judge Jonathan Fuller KC said, “The motive behind it was mean, callous, and designed to humiliate (her) to the maximum.”

He said Cash showed “absolute cowardice” by not facing the prosecution during the trial.

Judge Fuller added, “He was trying to cast himself as a victim, not a perpetrator. Nothing could be further from the truth.’

He sentenced Cash to eight years in prison for controlling and coercive conduct, two offenses of causing actual bodily harm, one of administering a poison or noxious substance, and one count of criminal damage.

In 2021, Cash also received a 19-month suspended prison sentence of two years for offenses against another victim.

Judge Fuller said Cash will be sentenced separately for violating that suspended sentence and failing to attend his trial when he returns or is extradited to the UK.