Violent Derbyshire thug headbutted and punched girlfriend during drunken rows

Wayne Marshall, 37, began attacking his girlfriend when the relationship turned sour during disagreements about drug taking, Derby Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Almas Ben-Aribia described how the relationship began early in 2022 however things “started to go wrong” a year later.

The court heard how on January 28 the defendant headbutted the victim to the left side of her face “for no apparent reason”.

After she struck Marshall with a blow of her own, the defendant punched her “repeatedly” to the head, causing two black eyes.

On February 6 Marshall arrived at his partner’s home drunk and accused her of sleeping with another man.

He also picked up a kitchen knife which he later returned to his scared girlfriend.

However Ms Ben-Aribia said the victim’s four children – aged between 4 and 12 – were upstairs during the entire episode and were “clearly impacted”, “crying and upset”.

After his arrest Marshall told police both incidents happened after he had heard his partner was ‘in a relationship with a drug dealer’, which made him angry.

On March 19 Marshall arrived at his long-suffering partner’s home while drunk at around 1am when she was asleep.

After throwing things around the house and taking her mobile phone, Marshall put her to the floor, pulling her hair and holding her by the throat.

In a statement the victim said: “I was on a fetal position on the floor and he hit me on the head with a phone charger and smashed a lamp."

While the assault continued one of the victim’s children ran into the room pleading with Marshall to leave her mother alone – however he then punched the girl’s mother three times to the face.

He left the address as the young girl phoned police.

The court heard Marshall had previous convictions for battery, robbery, assault with actual bodily harm, drunk and disorderly and criminal damage.

However he had been out of trouble since 2014.

It was noted that the toxic relationship was caused partly by Marshall’s frustration about his partner’s drug habit – although he lacked the “maturity” to deal with it properly.

Raglan Ashton, defending Marshall, said his client had suffered a “very troubled upbringing”.

His mother had died when he was aged five and his father was a “lifer” in prison – who he later discovered was serving in Leicester Prison at the same time that he was.

Mr Ashton said Marshall, who had already served six months in custody, had a real prospect of rehabilitation and the probation service had devised a detailed plan to work around issues with domestic violence.

However, choosing to impose a longer sentence rather than release Marshall on a community order, Judge Shaun Smith KC jailed him for 15 months.

He told him: “This was committed within a domestic context and has aggravating features including the presence of children.

"The reality is you can behave yourself – you’ve demonstrated since 2014 you can behave yourself.

"It’s only recently that it’s all come back as a result of this relationship.”

Marshall, of Windmill Rise, Somercotes, admitted assault with actual bodily harm, common assault and possession of a bladed article.