A Carlisle man who punched his partner, hit her on the head with a broom handle and threatened to kill her dog has been sent to prison.
Dennis Brennan, 28, committed crimes on three separate days while he and the woman were in a relationship which lasted for 18 months until mid-April, 2022.
In May, 2021, Brennan punched her to the face, threatened to tie her up and harm her further while closing the curtains to their address so no-one could see inside, Carlisle Crown Court heard today. The woman suffered significant bruising.
Brennan assaulted her again later in the year following an argument, stamping on her foot with significant force which caused it to bruise and swell.
And Brennan was then arrested after yet another attack, in April 2022, while the pair were in a garden.
“He struck her to the rear of the head with a broom handle that he was holding, causing swelling and pain,” prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told the court.
“She was visibly upset and she was crying. He pulled her in by her hair and locked her in the house. He threatened to kill her dog by feeding it paracetamol.”
The woman contacted police and later spoke of the profound impact on her of the domestic violence.
Brennan admitted one actual bodily harm assault and two common assaults.
Brendan Burke, defending, asked for any prison sentence to be suspended.
Brennan, of Rosehill Drive, Carlisle, had entered guilty pleas and, since the age of 18, been in full-time, skilled employment at the city’s Pirelli factory. He also provided care and financial support for two young children.
“To send him to custody immediately would have such a destructive consequence for him — and collateral consequences for his ex-partner and his children — that society would not be served,” said Mr Burke.
But Recorder Mark Ainsworth concluded that only immediate custody was appropriate, and imposed a 12-month term.
