A man attacked his girlfriend with a shovel as she fed her son breakfast before throwing bags of dog poo at her. Jake Shaw then attempted to suffocate Kirsty Burrows with a pillow but was stopped by the dog that sprung to her defence and attacked the abuser which allowed her to escape his clutches, the ECHO reports
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday the 30-year-old and Ms Burrows had been in an 'on off relationship' for around eight years after meeting through a dating website. Eve Salter, prosecuting, described how the couple had argued about their puppies on the evening of February 20 last year and she slept in her son's room that night as she 'feared what the defendant may do'.
The following morning, she was giving her child breakfast in the dining room of her home on Orrell Street in St Helens when Shaw suddenly hit her over the head with a spade. The victim tried to 'shield herself' with her arms and leg while her abuser struck her with further blows.
When she went to leave to take her kids to school, the thug refused to give her her car keys until she picked up bags of doo poo on the driveway and then 'proceeded to throw the bags of faeces at her'. Ms Burrows suffered swelling to the back of her head and bruises to her arms and legs as a result of the initial assault.
Later that evening, she was upstairs in bed when he knocked the front door and asked if he could stay the night. She agreed on the condition that her 'intoxicated' boyfriend stayed on the sofa but around 20 minutes later Shaw entered her bedroom and attacked her again.
He sat on her legs 'so she could not move' before hitting her twice in the chest and once to her left side. He then punched her in the back of the head before sitting on her again and suffocating her with a pillow over her face.
Ms Burrows was left 'unable to breathe' after Shaw covered her face with both his hands and she managed to break free after punching him back, at which point her abuser told her: "I'm going to get you done for assault."
When the victim tried to flee to her mum's house, he took hold of her son's school uniform to try and stop them from leaving before picking up a 'combat knife' and saying : "If you leave me, I'm going to kill myself."
He grabbed Ms Burrows once more and her dog 'launched itself at him in a heroic bid to protect her. Shaw grabbed the pet by the throat, pushed her to the floor and stamped on her neck which gave the victim the opportunity to escape.
In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, Ms Burrows described how she had since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and now suffers from panic attacks and nightmares. She added that she has been left 'feeling worthless' and said 'I feel like my life is rubbish at the moment.
"I don’t feel like me. I feel like what happened to me is never going to leave me."
Shaw has five previous convictions for eight offences, including being jailed for 18 weeks in 2019 for battery against Ms Burrows.
His defence counsel told the court he denies using the spade during the attack but 'accepts his actions were not acceptable and takes responsibility for those actions'. He has since moved from the area and 'sustained from taking any alcohol whatsoever'.
The defendant also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Shaw, now of Bankfield Court in Mirfield, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for ten months and handed a five-year restraining order to prevent him from contacting Ms Burrows.
Sentencing, Recorder Eric Lamb said: "Offences of domestic violence involve a breach of the trust of an intimate relationship. I have concluded that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by an immediate term of custody.
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