Man with a violent history back in jail after assault

HE LAUNCHED A SUSTAINED ATTACK ON HIS EX-PARTNER

A THUG with a history of violence has been jailed for a sustained and brutal attack on his partner – the second such assault in less than five years.

Gary Lees assaulted his latest victim after she confronted him with what she believed to be evidence he was seeing someone behind her back – an accusation he denied.

She ran into the bathroom to get away from 48-year-old Lees as he grew increasingly threatening, a court heard.

But he followed and began punching and kicking her, leaving her with a fractured arm and leg as well as extensive bruising.

Lees appeared at Leicester Crown Court to be sentenced for assaulting the woman at her home in the county in the early hours of Wednesday, September 2.

He had pleaded guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm at an earlier hearing, along with offences of criminal damage and resisting the Leicestershire Police officers who were sent to detain him after neighbours heard the woman’s cries for help.

Prosecutor Neil Bannister told the court Lees was jailed for two years in 2016 for an assault on another woman he had been in a relationship with.

In that case he headbutted and bit his victim, who was granted a lifetime restraining order against Lees.

Mr Bannister said Lees, pictured right, and his latest victim, who also has a limitless restraining order against him, had been in an “on-off relationship” since May last year.

“She says the two of them got back together about 10 days before this particular assault. It occurred in the early hours when the couple were in bed,” Mr Bannister said. “She says she was disturbed by the sound of an incoming text message on his telephone.

“It appeared to come from another woman and she woke him to let him know this, and that caused an argument.”

The woman began to fear for her safety as Lees threw insults at her.

Mr Bannister said: “She went to sit in the toilet to get away from him, but he followed her in. She describes him punching and kicking her to the body. She used her arms to protect herself and one of the blows caused the fracture of her left arm.”

The assault, which also resulted in a false tooth being dislodged, lasted several minutes and the woman was crying out, Mr Bannister said.

He said: “A neighbour heard and called the police, who arrived soon after and arrested the defendant.”

Officers placed him in their car but

he managed to get out and run away, Mr Bannister told the court.

He said: “The officers gave chase and tried their CS spray on him, but it had no effect. He continued to resist and tried to pull away until handcuffs could be safely applied.”

The woman was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where she was treated for the fracture to her arm and a similar injury to her lower leg. She had bruises across her head and body.

In her victim impact statement, excerpts of which were read to the court by the prosecutor, the woman said: “I relive this incident on many occasions in my dreams. I really fear Gary coming to my flat and assaulting me further.

“I know he thought I should not have got the police to deal with him. I am embarrassed because I allowed myself to put up with this treatment.”

She is still taking painkillers and receiving medical attention for her injuries, she wrote.

Lees, of Garfield Road, Hugglescote, has 48 convictions for violence, dating back to 2009, Mr Bannister said.

Gary Short, representing Lees, said the couple’s relationship had been “volatile”, in part due to the defendant’s “excessive” drinking.

He said: “On this day, the defendant had been drinking heavily. In the early morning, he was in bed. The next thing, he is being shaken awake by the victim accusing him of cheating because of the message on his phone. This was an unfounded accusation.

“He tells me ‘I lost my temper’ and readily accepts what he did. His guilty pleas show firstly that he knows that what he did was wrong and secondly that he apologises to the victim.”

Jailing him for three years, Judge Robert Brown told Lees: “You are a man who has been in front of the courts before for violence and these were serious injuries inflicted in a sustained attack.”

Lees was also sentenced to a month in prison for both the criminal damage and resisting a police officer offences. Those two months will be served concurrently.