A man who abused his girlfriend and hid their four month old baby from her had previously avoided jail for the same offences against an ex partner, a court heard.
Paul Manson, of Markfield Crescent, Halewood, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday after subjecting his girlfriend to months of controlling behaviour and abuse. Manson pleaded guilty to committing actual bodily harm, and to engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour after assaulting the mother of his child.
Faye Carroll had been in a relationship with Manson for around 18 months, and the pair shared a four month old baby at the time of the assault, and Ms Carroll was also mum to three other children. Kate Morley, prosecuting, explained the victim described their relationship as “a mixed bag”, but since the birth of their child in November 2021, Manson had become more paranoid and controlling.
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He controlled Ms Carroll’s movements, only allowing her to leave her home with his permission, and put a sim card in her phone to track her calls. She was only permitted to talk on the phone on speakerphone, and Manson often kept the phone altogether.
In late November, Ms Carroll tried to leave the property but Manson pulled her back by her hair with force, and threw her to the floor. He punched her three times to the face, leaving her with a black eye and a cut above her eyebrow which bled, before “stomping” on her chest which caused the victim pain when breathing.
A week later, on December 6 at around 9.30am, officers responded to an incident and were told by the victim that Manson had taken their four month old child the night before and not told her where the baby was. Ms Morley said: “In the ensuing argument, he grabbed her daughter's arm, but we believe that is more symptomatic of his controlling nature rather than an assault on the daughter.
“This resulted in her taking her three children out of the home in order to seek safety. They went to a nearby bus stop and he chased them, shouting she would never see her new born baby again.”
The victim saw a woman coming out of her home and asked her to call the police, saying “can you help me ring the police, he won’t leave me alone”. Manson has 21 previous convictions for 41 offences, including another conviction for coercive and controlling behaviour and assault on a previous partner from 2020.
A court heard the previous incidents were “essentially a catalogue of assaults” that left the complainant feeling “controlled and isolated”. On November 5, 2020, Manson went to visit his current girlfriend Haley Roberts in the North East, but she did not want him there.
Over the week he stayed with her, he behaved violently towards her and things deteriorated further when he drank alcohol. He picked arguments, kicked her furniture and bannister, punched a bedroom television, and on one occasion, pinned her to a bed in front of her five-year-old child.
When Ms Roberts told the defendant she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him, he threatened to harm himself with a kitchen knife. Judge Recorder Nicola Daley said: “In a similar way that you behaved last December, she ran outside, you traced her, tried to bring her inside and when neighbours called the police, you left and used her bank card to buy various items.”
He was handed a 10 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months on January 18 last year, and this further offence made him in breach of that sentence.
Rebecca Smith, defending, said: “He is not without his own difficulties, he struggles himself with his mental health and that together with his alcohol consumption, does not mix well. “He knows that the relationship with the complainant is over.
“He knows that together, both he and the complainant have to do what is best for the child.” In sentencing, Judge Daley said: “You’re still only 34 years of age, and yet have a very long set of previous convictions, you’ve been in the courts on multiple occasions.
“You had taken her phone off her, put her sim card into your phone so that you could monitor her phone calls, repeatedly threatened to have her children taken away from her, threatened her with violence. You tried to stop neighbours from calling the police, and threatened to kill yourself after you knew she was on the phone to the police.
“I understand that you do suffer with your own mental health difficulties, but that is not improved by the use of alcohol. You are also a risk to children, children who see violence of that nature are likely to be scarred for life.”
Judge Daley activated Manson’s suspended sentence but reduced it to eight months to take into account time served, and implemented a new sentence of another eight months to be served consecutively. She also applied a restraining order banning Manson from contacting Ms Carroll or her children.
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