A raging and "powerful" bodybuilder committed a brutal blind date attack on a woman in her own home, hitting her on the head with a vodka bottle and kicking her in the face. Darryl Crawford had never even met the woman before, but he accused his would-be girlfriend of "disrespecting" him before the savage beating.
Crawford turned up at her home after another woman helped to fix up the blind date, but the encounter quickly turned nasty when he started drinking heavily before trying to initiate sex, Hull Crown Court heard. Crawford, 32, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to the woman with intent in Bridlington on December 27 and possession of cannabis, HullLive reports.
Charlotte Baines, prosecuting, said Crawford arrived at the woman's Bridlington home by taxi from Leeds at 11pm. He had a bottle of vodka, which he offered to share with the woman and a female friend, and they smoked cannabis together.
He asked the woman to go to him in a bedroom but she refused. "He tried to touch her in the hallway and she rebuffed his advances," said Miss Baines. "She had a bad feeling about him."
Crawford told her: "You're disrespecting me. You're showing me no respect." She instructed him to leave and if he did not go she threatened to call the police.
But Crawford hit her on the head with the vodka bottle so hard that she fell from the sofa. He twice kicked her in the face while she was lying on the floor, stamping on her, grabbing her by the hair and repeatedly kneeing her in the face.
The woman, who was pregnant, thought she was going to die during the attack. "She had a very significant injury to her eye in particular," said Miss Baines.
Crawford had convictions for 14 previous offences, including robbery, inflicting grievous bodily harm and assault as well as possessing a knife and public disorder.
Jane Cooper, mitigating, said: "At first, he was in a good mood but, as he became more intoxicated, that's when his mood changed. This was a quick incident, a matter of a few seconds. It's clearly an angry assault. He expresses his remorse for the distress he has caused."
Judge John Thackray QC told Crawford: "This was an appalling attack upon a woman in her own home, a place where she was entitled to feel safe and secure. You viciously hit her with a vodka bottle.
"Not satisfied with that, you kicked her to the face twice as she lay on the floor. Not satisfied with that, you began stamping on her. Still not satisfied, you grabbed her by the hair and you kneed her to the face more than once.
"You are a large, powerful man and you could so easily have killed her," the judge added. "While she will physically recover from her injuries, she is unlikely to ever recover psychologically. The attack was undoubtedly prolonged and persistent."
Crawford, of Stonegate Crescent, Meanwood, Leeds, was branded a dangerous offender and jailed for six years. He will be extended licence of four years after his release from prison.
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