A violent thug tried to Facetime his girlfriend's dad to make him watch as he tortured her.
Lewis Dunn burnt his partner with cigarettes, stabbed her and threatened to cut her toes off in a nightmare ordeal that only ended when she hid in a bin to get away from him. The 27-year-old's victim ran through the streets in her pyjamas before hiding to escape.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday, that the defendant attended the home where his 21-year-old partner lived with her parents on February 22 and smashed the living room window - as well as those of a Mercedes A-Class and a white van - before fleeing on foot. Dunn then said in a call to the 21-year-old's mum: "I'll get some smackheads to come up and burn your house down, I'll stab you up."
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Peter Wilson, prosecuting, described how Dunn's girlfriend then got a taxi to see him. later admitting in a text to her mum that she wanted to visit him "in secret" because "if she didn't come to talk to him he would come back to the house and cause more damage".
Dunn took his girlfriend to a flat on Hartington Road in Toxteth where she stayed until the next day. But, by February 24, her boyfriend was refusing to let her leave the house after consuming a "cocktail of cocaine and alcohol" and subjected her to a horrific torture ordeal.
Dunn stubbed cigarettes out in her face, cut her with a knife, stabbed her in the shoulder with a screwdriver, repeatedly punched her, spat on her, hit her with a mobile phone and held a blade to her feet and threatened to cut her toes off. At one point, the 27-year-old attempted to FaceTime his girlfriend's father as he "wanted him to see" the injuries he was inflicting upon his daughter - although he missed the call.
At around 12.45pm, she was able to "make good her escape". CCTV footage subsequently captured around a mile away on Sidney Place in Edge Hill, which was played to the court, showed Dunn chasing her down the street.
Dunn's victim was forced to climb into a bin in order to hide from her abuser as he "shouted for her". She attended Aintree Hospital later that afternoon, having suffered 23 separate injuries.
These included having her jaw broken in two places, bruising to the heart and cigarette burns to the lips, the right temple and behind her left ear as well as a fracture to the bone in her left knuckle. She later told police that there had been "blood all over the place" inside the address.
Dunn - of Clint Road in Edge Hill - went on the run but was located in Anfield and arrested on March 16, with the pair remaining in a relationship to this day. He has seven previous convictions for nine offences, including two for domestic incidents - namely an assault in 2014 and being jailed for 25 months in 2017 for battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage against an ex.
Brendan Carville, defending, said: "They both had a cocktail of cocaine and drink, then he behaved in the disgusting way he behaved towards her. He is deeply ashamed - he is ashamed of her injuries, sustained at his hands."
Dunn admitted false imprisonment, inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and three counts of criminal damage and was jailed for six years and eight months. He will serve two thirds of this sentence before being eligible for release, and was also handed an extended three years on licence.
Sentencing, Recorder Andrew McLoughlin said: "You accept that you had imprisoned her falsely. During the false imprisonment, she suffered no fewer than 23 separate injuries all around her body.
"It is unclear what the reason behind it was, other than the humiliation and torture of your partner. For reasons that escape me, it would appear your partner is intent on having a continuing relationship with you.
"I am satisfied that you do present a significant risk of causing serious harm by committing further specified offences. Yet again you find yourself before this court, and in my opinion these offences amount to a serious escalation of your criminal offending behaviour in a domestic context."
Dunn was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting his girlfriend indefinitely, and must pay a victim surcharge.
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