A vile bully stamped on his girlfriend’s head and hit her with a bag that had a drill in it.
Steven Bragger also punched the woman in the face in front of her horrified friends, leaving her with a split lip. The 33 year old, from Warrington, subjected his then girlfriend to a series of violent assaults throughout 2019 and early 2020. He was jailed today at Liverpool Crown Court.
Kyra Badman, prosecuting, told the court Bragger and the woman, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, got into a “turbulent” relationship and that he attacked her on numerous occasions. In one of the first incidents, on May 29, 2019, Bragger threw a household object at the woman while they were arguing in the kitchen. It hit her in the thigh and left heavy bruising.
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Then, in the autumn of the same year, the woman had friends over to socialise one evening when Bragger began arguing with her about money. Ms Badman said: “He told her to shut up and punched her in the face, causing her lip to split. This was witnessed by her friends, who had come round for an evening of socialising.”
On another occasion, after an argument, the woman was lying on the floor and Bragger walked up to her and stamped on her head. He had shoes on at the time and the court heard photos showed an imprint left on the woman’s face.
Finally, on February 25, 2020, Bragger assaulted her again. After another argument, Bragger threatened to leave. The woman held on to his leg but Bragger lifted his bag, which had a drill in it, over his head and struck her with it. That incident saw her require hospital treatment and left her with heavy bruising to the face.
Bragger was then arrested and later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of assault as well as simple possession of cannabis, which police found on his person. In a statement to the court, the woman said she struggled with her mental health in the aftermath of the relationship ending and constantly questioned why she was made the victim of such brutal attacks.
The statement, read out by Ms Badman, said: “It makes me question what I have done in my life. It makes me think ‘Is this karma? Have I done something bad in my life to deserve this?”
Peter Gilmour, defending, said Bragger, who has previous convictions for assault and battery, was deeply remorseful for what he had done and pointed to a letter he wrote himself which the judge, Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, later said showed he understood and regretted the suffering he had caused the woman.
Mr Gilmour said Bragger also suffered with mental health issues and appealed to the judge to bear these in mind when sentencing. Recorder Unsworth told Bragger his attacks continued to have an effect on the victim, who continues to struggle with consequences of their
Bragger, of HMP Liverpool, was jailed for three years and four months.
