A fiancé from hell has been jailed after a court heard he frogmarched his partner to a river before biting her face in a vicious attack during a night out in Newcastle.
Cameron Johnson launched the vicious attack while the pair were in Newcastle City Centre in August 2021. The 28-year-old was then seen dragging the terrified victim up the street before she managed to break free and flee, Teesside Crown Court has heard.
The Redcar-based thug has now been jailed for three years, which the Judge told him was less than many members of the public will feel he deserves, admitting that his "hands are tied", Teeside Live has reported.
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Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following attacks on his ex partner in August 2021 and April 2022. The pair had booked to stay in Newcastle when the first attack occurred.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, described how the pair had been out for food and drinks and the Redcar man appeared aggressive towards his fiancé and told her she was "p***ing him off". Having left the last bar, she told him of an earlier incident where a man had made unwanted advances towards her and he had been ejected from the establishment.
"This caused an argument as they were walking back to the hotel and the defendant stopped [his partner], put his hand over her mouth and grabbed her by the throat," said Mr Gittins. "He then began to march her towards the river, away from the hotel, holding her arm behind her back.
"He stopped suddenly and turned towards her, held her face with both hands and bit down hard on to her nose." The court heard her nose began to bleed which his victim described as agony - when she tried to pull away he would bite down harder.
He began marching her away but she fled when she saw people outside of a nightclub, almost being knocked down by a taxi as she ran to escape him. The defendant then left.
Months later, another incident occurred after Johnson had gone through her phone and found messages from while the pair were separated. He bit her ear, her right cheek, her nose and her other ear - leaving marks and bleeding.
"As he was biting her, he was holding her down by the throat causing her to struggle to breathe," said Mr Gittins. He punched her to the right side of her face and forehead and put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming.
She managed to flee the house in her lower underwear going from door to door asking for help and the police were called, the court heard.
In a "moving" personal statement, the woman said in court: "When you asked me to marry you it was the most natural and easiest yes of my life. I trusted you completely, our personalities worked so well together... you completely shattered my trust."
She described the incident in Newcastle, saying: "The way you marched me down the road - someone asked if I was okay, I said no but you said I was just drunk. With blood pouring down my face as you marched me down that road, I thought honestly you walking me down to the river to finish me off.
"At this point there was no point trying to fight you anymore, I had accepted what was happening." She said his mistake was walking her near the nightclub where she was able to flee to safety.
She described how she suffers from anxiety, possible PTSD and has at times felt suicidal. She has lasting scars to her face from the attacks and added: "Everything triggers me, all of the time, even on a good day. You have ruined me."
Johnson has a previous conviction for battery of another former partner in 2019. The court heard he pulled her around by her hair and bit her head.
Nigel Soppitt, mitigating, said Johnson pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and is "deeply, deeply ashamed" of his behaviour. "He has real issues with controlling his temper and suppressing his unfounded jealousy," added Mr Soppitt.
Teesside Crown Court heard he has received some mental health support and tried to cut down on his alcohol consumption. He will apply himself fully to getting mental health support when he is released from prison, the court heard.
Judge Jonathan Carroll was also told that Johnson had been subject to a number of assaults in the Redcar area in the past months, he thinks because of rumours of his behaviour.
Sentencing, Judge Carroll said: "Strangulation is a particularly vicious form of assaulting somebody because the difference between assault and tragedy is a matter of moments - moments you were in not fit state to judge when your anger is up."
He added: "The sentences ultimately I'm going to pass will still, to many outside observers, stand insufficient but my hands are tied by the maximum sentence available for these offences... any sentence I impose is likely to fall short of what many people will think you would richly deserve."
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