Jealous boyfriend stamped on his partner’s head

AJEALOUS thug kicked and punched his girlfriend during a brutal drunken assault in the centre of Torquay.

Joseph Taylor, 23, was caught on CCTV leaping at the woman with a kick as she sat on a bench in Union Street.

He then repeatedly punched her while she lay on the ground and stamped on her head.

The defendant, of Excelsior Mews, Torquay, has a history of violence, including against an expartner, and was subject to a suspended sentence at the time of the offence.

Exeter Crown Court was told he suffered from mental health problems and was a prospect for rehabilitation.

But a judge said the violence was too serious for anything other than immediate prison and jailed Taylor for a year.

Taylor was also sentenced for assaulting a stranger a few minutes before he launched into his partner.

Prosecutor Ms Mary McCarthy said the incidents happened on the evening of April 20 last year.

The pair had been drinking together since about 3pm and both had consumed at least 10 vodkas. Taylor started to accuse the woman of flirting with other men and “fake crying”. CCTV showed him attacking a stranger who walked past. He swung a glass bottle, just missing the man, then pushed him over a bench.

The two men squared up before Taylor returned to his partner.

The couple walked away. Taylor was angry at her slow pace and repeatedly pushed her.

CCTV showed him near JD Sports suddenly lifting up his girlfriend, throwing her to the floor and kicking her hard.

He hauled her back up and started cuddling her before attacking again. He pushed the woman into a doorway and hit her to the ground. She got up to sit on a bench only for Taylor to launch a kick that sent her to the ground.

He stood over the woman, punched her seven times and stamped on her head before running away.

She went to hospital for a suspected broken arm and was treated for bruising and swelling.

Taylor later rang her to say her car was damaged and the wing mirrors broken off.

In a statement, the victim said she had suffered violence from Taylor earlier in the relationship but had not wanted to get him into trouble.

Since the latest incident he had stalked her on social media and her new partner had been harassed. She was scared of visiting parts of Torbay where she might see him and that he would hurt others in the future.

The defendant admitted two offences of causing actual bodily harm.

He has a previous conviction for battery on an ex-partner and was given a suspended sentence in 2019 for punching and kicking a man multiple times after hitting him over the head with a bottle.

Paul Dentith, in mitigation, said he was not the same man who had committed those offences. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder and was in a mental health crisis at the time.

He said the judge could take an exceptional course and not activate the suspended sentence, allowing him to work on his issues. But Judge David Evans said the ‘appalling’ violence in the CCTV meant it was too serious.

He accepted Taylor was sorry and wanted to turn his life around but the defendant had made the decision to drink to excess knowing it might trigger his anger.