A bully who left his partner injured after violent assaults, and held a knife to the throat of a terrified female friend, has been jailed for a total of three years.
Matthew Brian Dodds, 25, subjected his then girlfriend to verbal and physical abuse over two months, which caused her panic attacks and left her petrified, Carlisle Crown Court heard today.
After police were called and found the woman with injuries, they learned of Dodds’ persistent criminal conduct over several weeks.
While high on alcohol and cocaine, Dodds was regularly verbally abusive to the woman. He monitored her phone, subjected her to physical violence which caused injury and tore out a clump of her hair.
“She says her hair will take years to grow back and that upsets her,” said prosecutor Gareth Roberts as he summarised an impact statement. “She now locks herself away from the world at home so she can feel safe.”
In one incident, Dodds also held a knife to the throat of a female friend of the woman when she came to visit. That woman later suffered nightmares and described, had the incident taken a darker turn, pondering her son growing up without his mother.
Dodds, of Waver Lane, Wigton, admitted controlling/coercive behaviour and threatening another person with an offensive weapon.
Kim Whittlestone, defending, said Dodds had been suffering with his mental health at the time after a family member received terrible personal medical news, and self-medicating with cocaine and alcohol. “He now realises that was a disaster,” she said. “He realises now he needs to change his ways.“
Recorder Peter Horgan jailed Dodds for 36 months and banned him from contacting the two women indefinitely.
“You are described by her as a bully who, if he doesn’t get what he wants, gets upset,” said the judge of a comment made by Dodds’ ex. “In short, over a period of two months, your behaviour towards her was appalling.”
Of the woman threatened with the knife, the judge also said: “How terrified she must have been.”
