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National
Sara Nichol

Drunk Byker brute repeatedly headbutted and punched girlfriend in her home

A drunk thug repeatedly punched and headbutted his girlfriend after downing the majority of a litre bottle of vodka.

Robert Pallister's violent assaulted was largely recorded after the quick-thinking victim dialled 999 and put the phone, which was still connected, in her pocket. It meant the call handler heard most of the attack, which involved Pallister headbutting her up to 10 times and punching her in the face, a court was told.

The 37-year-old brute also punched her TV before he left the woman's Hebburn home, only to return an hour later when the police had arrived. Newcastle Crown Court heard that, during the brief time he was away from the address, Pallister had left the victim voicemails calling her a grass and telling her "there would be consequences for her actions" in calling the emergency services.

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The thug, who has 40 offences on his record, including for rape, also continued to be aggressive and call his partner a grass as he was arrested in the street, prosecutors said.

Now, Pallister, of Shields Road, in Byker, has been jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and witness intimidation. He was also made subject of an indefinite restraining order.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said Pallister attended the victim's address with a friend on January 13 this year and consumed "90% of a litre bottle of vodka" while she remained "out of the way" upstairs. When she came down, both she and Pallister's friend spent an hour trying to wake Pallister, who had passed out drunk on the sofa.

Once awake, Pallister and his friend briefly left the address before returning, when Pallister started "showing off". Mr Bunch continued: "He punched her [the victim] and headbutted her once each. That led to her dialling 999.

"She left the line open, placing the phone in her pocket, so what happened subsequently was recorded on that call. The defendant began behaving in a somewhat bizarre manner."

The court heard that the woman went upstairs and heard "punching" sounds coming from downstairs, which turned out to be Pallister damaging her TV screen. He then came into her room, dragged her off the bed and headbutted her "five to 10 times" while saying "what you going to do about it?", Mr Bunch told the court.

The victim tried to defend herself by biting Pallister's nose and wrapping herself in a duvet but he continued to punch her to the face, which knocked her to the ground. In a statement, the woman said she'd suffered a broken nose as a result of the attack, although that was self-diagnosed. She also had a large amount of swelling to her left cheek.

Mr Bunch added: "Police attended as a result of the 999 call and found [the victim] with blood to her face and they took an initial complaint from her. While there, the defendant returned to the address one hour or so after the police had arrived. In the intervening period, he had left a series of voicemails and messages saying she was a grass and there would be consequences for her actions."

Fiona Lamb, defending, said Pallister had been homeless, suffered from mental health issues and now had a neurological disorder, which affected the motor skills in the right side of his body.

Jailing Pallister, Judge Amanda Rippon said he'd committed a serious assault of violence against his partner, adding: "You have poor mental health resulting from your addictions, which you have been battling for most of your life."

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