Warning: Confronting content
Blake Horton’s alleged wrath knew no bounds.
During an argument at a Sydney music festival, he allegedly threw his then-partner *Kat into a metal fence, a tree and the road. As he sat in their car one Christmas Eve and shattered the windscreen, a frightened Kat pulled over and attempted to flee, but was injured after falling onto the ground as he chased her.
His alleged offending includes smacking Kat’s head on a bathtub, causing her to lose consciousness by lifting her off the ground by her throat, and punching and kicking her on several occasions.
On multiple occasions, he is accused of threatening suicide if Kat left. The 28-year-old is yet to plead to 17 domestic violence charges spanning several years.
The harrowing case has sparked warnings that a threat of self-harm is a prevalent coercive control tactic used to manipulate victim-survivors into staying with abusers. It also highlights the urgent need for improved support in the complex space.
“It’s this really complex dance that the perpetrator will lean into to ensure that the victim-survivor is controlled,” said Domestic Violence NSW (DVNSW) senior policy and advocacy officer Angie Gehle.
“You’ve got a victim-survivor who’s effectively been eroded, and her sense of reality actually is manipulated … If he threatens suicide, and the worst-case scenario was to happen, she would be the person to blame in her mind.”
How horrific violence escalated over years
Documents released by the NSW Supreme Court paint an alleged picture of escalating violence perpetrated by the Port Macquarie window factory worker.
He would be set off by texts from other men, or Kat’s choice to pick up extra work rather than spending time with him. He allegedly refused to take her to hospital when she couldn’t breathe, and smashed her phone when she tried to seek help. When she saw a doctor with severe bruising, she lied and said she’d slipped.
“What we found was that sometimes the suicide threats can divert the attention from the perpetrators’ accountability.”
Angie Gehle, Domestic Violence NSW
Once, as they played cards at a friend’s grandmother’s house, he allegedly yanked Kat’s ponytail over a disliked joke. After she ran away crying, he apologised, but gave an ultimatum: if she didn’t come back, he would kill himself.
“The victim returned to collect the accused, concerned he would hurt himself,” the fact sheet alleges.
After a separate alleged attack, Horton threatened to kill Kat and himself if she went to police.
One night, police responding to a domestic violence incident issued an apprehended domestic violence order to protect Kat. Police say she disclosed the years-long accusations, providing photos, videos, notes and texts.
Police arrested Horton on the bulk of the charges in May last year. He has been in custody since.
A summary of Blake Horton’s alleged offences, according to police
- During a brawl, Horton choked the victim with his forearm.
- Horton pulled the victim’s ponytail, and later punched and split the glovebox of the car.
- Horton smashed the car stereo and windscreen. He chased the victim, causing her to fall and scrape her limbs.
- Under the influence of MDMA, Horton hit the victim twice, smashed her phone, and threw her to the ground.
- Enraged by a text, Horton punched the victim in the face and later choked her until she lost consciousness.
- During a trip to Sydney, Horton threw the victim into a metal fence (splitting her lip), against a tree, and onto the road.
- Horton threw a phone at the victim’s face.
- Horton punched the victim in the legs, stomach and chest, causing visible bruising.
- Horton punched the victim in the bathroom, causing her to hit her head on the sink and bathtub, resulting in a pinched nerve.
- Horton grabbed the victim by the throat during an argument over work shifts.
- Horton choked the victim, pressed his thumbs into her eyes, punched her ribs, and kicked her while she was on the floor.
The Supreme Court earlier heard Horton has a previous domestic violence conviction against Kat. His lawyer argued for the granting of bail, saying the “majority” of the current charges were a “one-on-one type scenario” and there may be “general difficulties” in proving them beyond reasonable doubt at a potential trial.
Prosecutors asked for the charges to be tried in the District Court due to the lower court’s maximum five-year jail penalty. They successfully argued for Horton to remain in custody, raising concerns he would endanger Kat if released and noting his previous failed court appearances.
Horton will next face court on March 19.
Nearly two in five coercive control victims report self-harm threats: study
Kat is far from alone. She is one of the estimated 27 per cent of Australian women who have reported intimate partner physical or sexual violence, according to government figures.
She is also one of 39 per cent of women who reported self-harm threats as part of their partner’s coercive control, according to a 2021 Australian Institute of Criminology study.
Gehle was not surprised by the figure.
As DVNSW prepares its response to a national inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) and suicide, launched in October 2025, she has noted concerning patterns.
“What we found was that sometimes the suicide threats can divert the attention from the perpetrators’ accountability,” she said.
“If those threats of suicide come out, it leads into a presentation of mental health, and it mislabels the victim-survivor, and it completely detracts from the situation around the domestic and family violence altogether.”
Gehle acknowledged the difficulty in balancing mental health concerns with protecting victims, as suicide ideation could be a legitimate cry for help, calculated manipulation, or both.
While there was no easy answer, Gehle called for improved early intervention to tackle signs of mental illness.
“We’re working in silos, so somebody who is at risk of violence could potentially go and see their GP and discuss things, but GPs aren’t skilled to be doing that work,” she said.
“But that’s a critical opportunity where they could be reaching out to an [appropriate] service.”
Gehle said preventative strategies were crucial in working with men and boys because it is “incredibly difficult to reverse” a crisis point.
She also recommended a more integrated risk assessment of victim-survivors across support services, police stations and courtrooms, to determine the timing and context of self-harm threats.
“It could be when she’s talking about leaving [or] family court. Sometimes you can track those patterns, and that level of control that the perpetrator is trying to maintain,” she said.
Ultimately, Gehle noted each survivor’s experience was unique, and reasons for staying with abusers were complex – especially with victim-blaming remaining prominent.
She hoped the federal inquiry would improve data collection on domestic, family, and sexual violence-related deaths – one piece of the puzzle for which “a lot more work needs to be done”.
The inquiry followed calls from Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek. It will examine suicide risks for all people involved in domestic, family and sexual violence.
*Kat is a pseudonym
