A controlling boyfriend broke his partner's nose after losing his temper when his McDonalds meal landed in his lap.
Daniel Taivalantti attacked his girlfriend, who he made call him "King", before repeatedly hitting himself in the face with a wrench and saying he would blame her for his injuries.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday how Taivalantti had already been annoyed that day because he was late to answer bail for causing damage at his partner's mum’s home.
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The 28-year-old flew into a rage after the fast food landed onto his knee and ordered his partner to get out of his vehicle.
When she refused, Ken Grant, prosecuting, said Taivalantti started spitting in his victims face and “she described how he made a hammer fist before punching her in the face around her left eye area and she felt immediate pain.”
His victim suffered from a broken nose, a fractured left eye socket and black eyes in the incident in Long Lane, Warrington on January 23 this year.
The court heard how Taivalantti then drove them erratically towards her nearby home and told her to get out.
Ken Grant, prosecuting, said: “She refused to get out until he apologised for what he had done. While parked he picked up her car keys and bank card and threw them out of the vehicle but she still would not get out.”
He drove her to her grandmother’s house and again asked her to get out and she again refused.
He then said they were going to the Lakes but parked near junction 11 of the M62 by the Birchwood roundabout.
Mr Grant told the court: "He got out of the car and went to the boot and returned with a wrench telling the complainant that he was going to hit himself with it so then he could blame her.
"She said that the defendant then returned to the boot with the wrench and although she could not see him, as her view was obstructed by the car’s parcel shelf, she could hear him hitting himself.
"When she next saw the defendant she saw blood on his head and left cheek. His eye was red and he also had scratches on his neck.
"A member of the public was nearby and he intervened and the police were notified."
Liverpool Crown Court was told that the 28-year-old was arrested and his victim was taken to Warrington Hospital where she underwent x-rays and a head CT scan.
In an impact statement she told how during their five month relationship “he required her to refer to him in a certain way - as King".
The statement continued: “She had to apologise to him for things she did not even know she had done wrong. So many things were not right in the relationship and she became withdrawn and realised she was not herself.”
She told how friends had warned her about him but she ignored those “warning flags and he manipulated her into thinking they were jealous and not nice and eventually she stopped speaking to them.”
She said she wanted to end the relationship on many occasions but he manipulated her into getting back with him.
The victim said that after the attack she just wanted to hide away and was embarrassed about her injuries and had to have numerous hospital appointments. She has been left with a burning sensation in her nose.
Mr Grant told the court the victim was afraid Taivalantti would turn up at her home which added to her on-going depression which meant she had to give up her job. She has now moved out of the area.
Taivalantti, 28, of Stirrup Field, Golborne, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and criminal damage.
Judge Garrett Byrne said it had been “a short lived and volatile relationship but no matter how difficult you found it, it cannot justify what you did.
“You punched her to the face and it must have been a very forceful blow because it caused very serious injuries. I have seen the photographs and they are awful.”
The judge pointed out that he had been on bail at the time for criminal damage, which the court heard involved him punching two holes in a bedroom door, kicking his foot through the bottom of it and smashing a mirror.
However he said he had no history of breaching court orders and there is a prospect of rehabilitation so on balance had “just been persuaded” that a suspended sentence was appropriate.
He sentenced him to a total of 14 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and 15 days rehabilitation activities.
The judge also ordered him to pay his victim £500 compensation.
Adam Antoszkw, defending, said that the defendant now has a fiancée and he “is sorry and ashamed” for his behaviour in the incident.
“Obviously it was a bad relationship that brought out the worst in him. In all other aspects of his life he appears to be a hard working man.”
He had witnessed domestic abuse as a child and he was ashamed “that he has managed to repeated what he himself saw.”
Mr Antoszkw said that the defendant had been caring for his sick grandfather until a recent stroke meant he needed full time care so Taivalantti has a full time job lined up and expects to earn £500 a week.
