A woman feared her ex-boyfriend was going to kill her as he rained punches down on her in bed and shaved off her hair. Adam Baines was branded "every woman's worst nightmare" in court.
Baines, 27, admitted attacking the 26-year-old mum, who said her ex partner couldn't face up to the fact their "all-consuming" relationship was over. The court heard he had called her after she broke off the relationship, insisting he was "in control" of her, Grimsby Live reports.
The woman suffered the "horrific" ordeal while she was unwell in bed, as Baines donned a black balaclava and gloves to carry out the attack. He then gave a chilling warning to his ex, that she would be "in the boot of a car for three hours" next time.
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Baines had bombarded her with nasty and threatening messages in the weeks before the attack, Grimsby Crown Court heard. Craig Lowe, prosecuting, said that the couple had been in a relationship for about two-and-a-half years from October 2019 to May last year but the behaviour of Baines changed when she tried to end the relationship.
"He would turn up uninvited to her house and would not leave when requested," said Mr Lowe. On one occasion, Baines arrived at her address, told her that he was staying whether she liked it or not, got undressed and climbed into his ex-girlfriend's bed. He stayed in the bed for three hours before she could get him to leave.
Baines told her in a telephone call: "You don't get to live your life the way you want to. I am in control of you. I will beat you up." He sent numerous text messages, WhatsApp messages and emails to her.
He told her "Stop trying to get cheeky or I will f***ing slap you." He also said: "Sort your s**t out or I will sort you out" and "I will do something I regret. I want to smash your f***ing face in, you mug. I'll f***ing hurt you."
The woman, who has nine-year-old daughter, was feeling unwell and was in bed at her then home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, at about 9.30am when Baines walked into the house. He was wearing a black balaclava and gloves and was holding an electric razor in his hand. He went in to her bedroom. "He pinned her down by placing his knees on her arms," said Mr Lowe.
Baines repeatedly punched her with his clenched fists in her face. She heard the buzzing sound of the razor. "She begged him to stop," said Mr Lowe.
Baines shaved the front of her hair towards the middle while he was still on top of her and she tried to knock the razor out of his hand. "He continued to try to shave her head," said Mr Lowe.
Baines dragged the razor down her head, causing cuts, and he shaved part of one of her eyebrows. He put a finger in her eye before getting up and calling her an abusive name.
Baines warned her: "Take this as a warning. If you tell anyone, next time you will be in the boot of a car for three hours and your whole head will be shaved." He told her to shut up and then left.
The woman later said: "I feel scared for my life. I feel like I don't know what's going to happen to me. I am scared that I am going to die. Every time I close my eyes, I can see him there with a balaclava on.
"I am scared he will get somebody to do something to me. Every time I close my eyes, I keep going over what happened. He told me that he would put me in the boot of a car. I am terrified that he will do this.
"I genuinely thought that I was going to die. I genuinely thought that he was going to kill me. The attack which happened was at my home address. I have been a nervous wreck."
The woman had since moved out of the house and gone to live with a friend elsewhere in Grimsby. "I don't feel safe leaving my friend's house without him being with me," she said. "At night, I struggle to sleep. I don't know how I will ever be myself again."
The woman said that her ear was left all black and she had bruises on her cheekbone and her eyebrow bone from where she had turned her head to one side while she was being attacked in bed. The area that had been shaved by Baines was 4cm deep into her hair.
She said that Baines shaved straight into the front of her middle parting so she had been forced to hide it with a side parting to cover up the bald part. When he was shaving her head, she had her hand in front of her hair to try to stop him from shaving her hair.
Baines had originally booked a one-way ticket to Thailand, to leave the day after the incident, but he denied to police that he would have been running away and answered: "No comment".
Baines admitted assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, on December 6 and putting her in fear of violence through harassment in Grimsby between September 1 and December 7.
Alex Menary, mitigating, said that the incidents happened over a prolonged period but Baines now accepted that the relationship was over. "This young man has been besotted with the complainant and could not, it seems, handle the end of the relationship," said Mr Menary.
"He realises that the relationship had become all consuming for him." He had arranged for 10 voluntary counselling sessions and the offences were completely out of character for him. "He had otherwise led a law-abiding life until then," said Mr Menary.
Baines had, until then, been "the original self-made man" who had worked hard, worked his way up, managed to buy his own house and had renovated it. He had no previous convictions but had been remanded in custody.
"This has been a hard shock for him and his family," said Mr Menary. "He apologises to the victim in this case. He is quite clear that the relationship is now at an end. The clang of the prison door weighs heavily for him and his family."
Baines had booked a one-way ticket to Thailand, to leave the day after the assault. "He wanted to get out of the country and clear his head," said Mr Menary.
Judge John Thackray KC told Baines: "The offence must represent every woman's worst nightmare. She was at home, she was in bed and she was entitled to feel safe and secure in her home.
"In a pre-planned attack, you attended wearing a black balaclava and gloves, armed with an electric razor. Your sole purpose was not just to viciously assault her, as you did, but to humiliate her and you launched a most horrific attack upon her.
"Prior to that, you had made her life a misery with your numerous messages. She may never fully recover from an attack like this. It was a prolonged and persistent attack. She was entitled to feel safe in her home and not to be assaulted by a previous partner."
Baines, of Station Road, Gunness, Scunthorpe, was jailed for two-and-a-half years and was given an indefinite restraining order. After the hearing, the woman told Grimsby Live: "I am pleased that he got a custodial sentence instead of a suspended sentence. It now gives me time to find a house and move on from it.
"It has affected my life. I can't go back to living the life that I led. It's nice that everyone knows who he is and what he is."
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