Thug who beat partner freed to live ‘close by’
SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR 35-YEAR-OLD ATTACKER
A VIOLENT thug who beat up his girlfriend after she returned home from a night out with friends has been freed to live around the corner from her.
Daniel Lumsden, who has a long history of violence among his 70 previous convictions, repeatedly punched the woman in an unprovoked attack, leaving her black and blue and terrified.
But now the brute, who had been in custody on remand, has been given a suspended sentence and will return to live close to the victim, albeit with a restraining order banning him from contacting her or going into certain areas.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was on October 21 last year that the victim went out with friends and her sister to the Secret Garden, in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, returning to her home in Annitsford, North Tyneside, with one of her friends around 8.30pm.
Once her friend left, Lumsden started demanding her phone and became aggressive, grabbing and squeezing her face before punching her multiple times while she screamed for him to stop.
He then threw her into a dryer, causing her to hit her elbow and fall to the floor, where he rained more punches on her as she tried to use her arms to protect her face.
When he stopped, she tried to leave but the door was locked and she couldn’t find the keys.
Lumsden told her he would not let her out because she would call the police and demanded she swore on her children’s life that she would not do so.
After being allowed out, she ran to a neighbour’s home and police were called.
When they got there, they found her upset, with two black eyes, bruising to her face, a split lip, her forehead was red and swollen and she had severe bruising to her arm.
In a victim impact statement, she said: “This has left me traumatised.
“This was an unprovoked attack which occurred because I went out with my friends.
“Since the incident I’ve not been able to sleep properly and I’m on sleeping tablets and anti-depressants and have constant nightmares and wake up in sweats. It’s horrible.
“I want to attend counselling, I’m not the same person. The kids have said they are too scared to play outside or go the park if he is released.
“If he’s released I won’t be able to sleep or live in this area if he returns to his address because it’s just round the corner. I tried to leave him numerous times before this but he would turn up and stand outside in the dark. I don’t want him to be near me ever again.”
Lumsden, 35, of Capperaille Lodge, Annitsford, who has 70 previous convictions, including multiple serious assaults, was initially charged with GBH but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Judge Gavin Doig sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, with an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 90 days and rehabilitation.
He was also given an indefinite restraining order not to contact the victim or go in specified areas.
He has family members who live in Annitsford so a prosecution application to have him completely banned from the area was refused.