Mansfield man punched girlfriend 'about 30 times' in the face during savage attack

Robert McCullagh was ‘drunk and angry’ after ‘a family day out’ on June 20 last year when he grabbed the woman by her biceps and pinned her to the kitchen worktop, prosecutor Donna Fawcett said.

He held her by the throat and did not change position, making contact with the same spot as he punched the right side of her face.

McCullagh grabbed her hair and hit her on the other side of the face.

"I did everything in my power to get him off me," she said in a statement. “I thought I was going to die.”

McCullagh smashed a glass ashtray on the worktop and forced her face downwards near the broken glass, while she begged him to stop.

He told her: "Don't think I won't cut you up and that."

When he finally released her after the six-minute long assault, she rang his brother and ran outside. McCullagh's brother arrived at her address and she watched them leave together.

She was left with bruising, swelling and grazes and two black eyes, the court heard.

McCullagh’s victim also had to have three months off work and continues to suffer from anxiety.

In a statement she told police that during their three-month relationship, McCullagh threatened her and said: "The only way you're leaving me is in a box."

She described jumping whenever someone comes to her door and said: "I fear he may turn up unannounced and do me harm. It's left me with no confidence and I fear for my safety."

McCullagh, 33, of Whaley Bridge Close, Mansfield, was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a trial on February 1 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.

District Judge Tim Spruce said he forced his victim to relive the ordeal and during the trial he claimed she had used a knuckle duster against him.

"I cannot understand why the magistrates didn't send you straight to the crown court for sentencing after they found you guilty,” he said, adding that his powers of sentencing were insufficent.

McCullagh was given bail, on condition he doesn't contact his victim, until June 30 when he must appear at Nottingham Crown Court.

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