A jealous boyfriend locked his “cowering” partner in a room and beat her as she tried to protect her dog from his vicious attacks.
Lee Cavanagh flew into a rage after his girlfriend went out with her friends on December 26, last year, and took it out on her by subjecting her and her pug to an assault in her own home.
After his attack on the woman he spent months threatening her, ordering her to retract statements she had made about him to the police and telling her “the beatings I’ve given you in the past are nothing compared to what you are going to get today”.
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Joshua Sanderson-Kirk, prosecuting, said Cavanagh’s ex, whom the ECHO has chosen not to name, had been in a relationship with the 21 year old for around three years and said he was frequently abusive towards her
She went out with her friends to celebrate Boxing Day last year and had been unable to contact him after her phone ran out of battery.
Cavanagh, from Poulton, knew where she was and followed her out, forcing her to come home to her flat. When they got back she realised he had smashed numerous pieces of furniture and he then began attacking her, eventually locking her and her small pug into a room with him and assaulting her for two hours.
Mr Sanderson-Kirk said the woman lay terrified in the room as she tried to stop Cavanagh from hurting the dog, which he kicked on numerous occasions. He said: “She describes cowering on the floor while trying to protect her dog, which had already been kicked by the defendant.”
Mr Sanderson-Kirk said the woman later told police she even considered jumping out the window but decided not to because she wanted to keep her dog safe. Eventually, Cavanagh let her out into the hallway and she was able to make a run for it when he received a phone call. The court heard she had to carry her dog for half an hour while walking barefoot and bleeding from her face in order to get to her mum’s house. She was then taken to hospital for treatment.
She didn’t immediately make a complaint to police after Cavanagh apologised to her. However, she ended the relationship shortly afterwards and he then began harassing her. She did then tell the police about Cavanagh’s attack on her, as well as other occasions when he had been abusive.
After hearing of the accusations against him, Cavanagh began to bombard the woman with messages telling her to retract her complaints. On one occasion, he followed her to a park and threatened her as she walked her dog, on another he sent her a message over Facebook telling her he was going to beat her up again.
That message, read out in court, said: “Beatings I’ve given you in the past are nothing compared to what you are going to get today, I’m going to jail anyway.” Cavanagh was later arrested and pleaded guilty to a range of offences, including assault, harassment, criminal damage and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
He appeared for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on those charges, as well as for a separate assault on a teenager in Seacombe. Adam Antoszkiw, defending, said Cavanagh had a “very difficult childhood” and, after being remanded in custody, was now trying to turn his life around so he didn't offend again.
The judge, Recorder Eric Lamb, told Cavanagh the “ordeal” he subjected the woman to on Boxing Day was compounded by months of threats against her which made her fear for her safety.
Cavanagh, of Rankin Street, was jailed for a total of 28 months. A restraining order prevents him from contacting his ex girlfriend for ten years.
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