Abuser who flushed girlfriend's rabbit down toilet and fled to Thailand is jailed for nearly ten years

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026.

Nicholas Cash, 26, put his then 17-year-old girlfriend Olivia Croft through ten months of abuse — shooting her with a BB gun, slashing her face with broken glass, locking her inside their home, and forcing pills down her throat. The rabbit's death finally drove Croft to contact police. Cash wept via video link at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday as he was sentenced to nine years and four months.

In 2022, Cash claimed he was too ill to stand trial, then fled to Thailand with a new partner and their newborn baby, both of whom he later abandoned.

Dorset Police, the National Crime Agency and Royal Thai Police tracked him down; arrested on December 23 last year, he spent nine months in a Thai prison before being extradited.

Cash was given eight years for the domestic abuse offences, with a further 16 months tacked on after he violated a suspended sentence relating to offences against a second victim.