A cowardly bully jailed for a vicious attack on a former partner had previously battered a taxi driver in a racist attack.
David Hickman was on licence when he bit, punched and imprisoned a nurse last summer. That violent incident was just the latest in a series of horrific acts perpetrated by the 33-year-old - including against other partners.
Hickman was locked up on Wednesday after Liverpool Crown Court heard of his vile antics on the night of the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy last July. Gareth Roberts, prosecuting, said drunken Hickman called his victim a “fat s**g” and: “He grabbed her by the throat and he held her against the bedroom wall and spat in her face.”
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He pushed her through a glass shower curtain, poured bleach over her head and face and locked her in his Wallasey flat, using a broom to jam the handle. She escaped the following morning but was tormented for a further fortnight, with Hickman even getting an associate to make a false allegation she attended work at a hospital site while under the influence of cocaine.
Locking him up for seven years, of which he will have to serve at least two thirds, and handing him an additional three years on licence once released, the judge, Recorder Ian Harris, told Hickman: “I am satisfied that you were obsessed with your victim.”
Referring to just some of his behaviour, he added: “During her working hours you bombarded her with text messages if she did not reply to you immediately. I am satisfied this was an example of you trying to control her and being irrationally jealous.”
The court was told that Hickman had 21 previous convictions for a total of 35 offences. This included a brutal Boxing Day 2017 assault, with Hickman starting the fight and encouraging an associate to join in by shouting "Kill the p***."
That attack unfolded on Rice Lane in Wallasey, where the pair had been driven to and where Hickman’s friend bought drugs. The driver then refused to continue transporting them as they did not have enough money for the fare.
Summarising the case in July 2018, Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, said: "The defendants offered their phones as payment, but the taxi driver refused and they became aggressive. The pair got very agitated and the victim felt scared because it was a quiet road and there were not many people out.
"The driver phoned the police and the pair left the taxi but left the passenger doors open. As the driver got out to close them he was attacked by Hickman."
The victim suffered blows to his nose, face and eyes, sustaining a "blow-out" fracture to his right eye socket and cheek. In a moving victim impact statement the driver revealed he had always been hard working since arriving in the UK from Bangladesh in 1990.
Having worked in a shop, owned a takeaway and as a taxi driver, the victim said he had "tried my best to adapt to British culture".
Following the attack he was forced to quit his job as a taxi driver immediately and still had flashbacks to the night, with no confidence left.
Hickman had been released from his jail term for that offence but remained under licence when he launched into the assault on his former girlfriend last year.
Anna Duke, defending, said: “The defendant knows he does have a problem that he knows he needs to address.” Ms Duke said Hickman was aware that, had he not been under the influence of alcohol and drugs on the night of the attack, he may not be in the situation he finds himself in now.
On Wednesday, the court heard Hickman’s criminal record included drug offences, multiple breaches of court orders and two “offences of violence against previous partners”.
The judge, Recorder Ian Harris, told Hickman: “It is clear to me that you are a dangerous, violent and cowardly bully.” He said the defendant had a “propensity to behave cruelly and vindictively”.
