These are the cowardly abusers with connections to Merseyside who found themselves in court this year.
They include a vile bully who stubbed out cigarettes on his girlfriend's neck and back and a monster who dropped his children off at school then came home and stabbed his wife in the neck.
Their vile and cowardly crimes landed them in the dock at Merseyside's courts, where they were sentenced for their abusive actions.
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In February this year Merseyside Police revealed it received 20,000 more reports of domestic abuse since the beginning of the pandemic than the previous year.
Figures shared by Liverpool Council also highlighted that Between April 2020 and March 2021 domestic abuse crimes recorded by the force had increased by 9% compared to the previous year.
These are some of the cases of psychological torture and physical violence that were inflicted upon women by the men who abused them.
Here are the faces of some of the domestic abusers who found themselves in court in 2021.
James Tighe
A brutish ex-boyfriend launched a sustained and repeated attack on a mum while she slept.
The victim woke up covered in blood with bruises over her body while her James Tighe stood at the end of her bed.
The last thing the woman remembered was the 35-year-old "winding" her in an argument about her phone after a night out with him.
A prosecutor told Liverpool Crown Court: "Her next full memory is of the following morning. She was naked, sitting on her bed at home with her knees up to her chest looking down at her body. Her legs were covered in bruises and blood."
The mum suffered more than 20 bruises to her arms and hands, a black eye, lumps to her head and bruises to her hip and knee.
Tighe was due to stand trial for his offences, but admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage on the opening day, which was accepted by the Crown.
But he has never revealed what he did to the woman, which left her hair so matted she had to have it cut off by a hairdresser.
Tighe of Edwin Street, Widnes, has a previous conviction from 2010 for battery and criminal damage, relating to a domestic assault on a previous partner.
He was jailed for 27 months and handed him a five-year restraining order.
Ryan Bar AKA Romeo Barr
A vile bully stubbed out cigarettes on his girlfriend's neck and back.
Ryan Barr, aka Romeo Barr, poured bleach on the young Liverpool student in a series of "disgusting" abuse.
A court heard he also spat on his victim, kicked and bit her face, taunted her when she cried and even hit their dog and made her watch.
He left the woman in over £5,000 of debt after forcing her to take out loans, but was spared jail after a court heard he had since changed his ways and helps to care for his nan.
The 24-year-old, of Clock Face, St Helens, was spared jail after the court heard of the positive impact a previous community order had had on Barr.
Barr, who admitted controlling and coercive behaviour, was previously convicted of common assault against the same victim.
A judge noted Barr hadn't offended since his previous conviction, was still young, had a new job and his nan relied on his support.
He also told Barr it wasn't surprising his victim was "a changed person because of her experience with you".
Barr was handed 15 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work.
A judge also ordered him to pay £500 in compensation to the victim and imposed a two-year restraining order.
Mark Senior
A man beat up his girlfriend so badly that she struggled to breathe after she called him by the wrong name.
Mark Senior punched the woman and kicked her in the ribs after she fell to the floor.
The serial abuser had recently been released from prison when he launched the attack on February 1 this year, and has committed 15 previous offences against the same woman.
After calling him the wrong name the 40-year-old said: "What did you just say again? How dare you call me Michael?"
Senior then "punched her to her forehead, punched her to the back of her head".
When the woman fell to the floor Senior "kicked her really hard to the ribs" leaving the woman "struggling to breathe".
Senior, of Alnwick Drive, Ellesmere Port, has a total of 28 convictions for 49 offences.
He admitted assault by beating and criminal damage.
His lawyer said Senior had lived a "turbulent life" and after suffering abuse misuses alcohol.
The court heard he also suffers with PTSD and a number of mental health problems.
A district judge jailed Senior for 14 weeks and a two year restraining order was imposed.
As he was jailed Senior said: "I just apologise, I'm a different person when I drink I'm not like that when I'm sober.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for the way I am, I really am."
Kevin Currie
Kevin Currie attacked his former partner, who the ECHO chose not to name, with a knife, wooden bat and metal saucepan over "many hours".
The woman's overnight ordeal at his house in Lunt Road, Bootle featured "drowning, suffocation and strangulation".
A judge said the vodka-guzzling brute even threatened to "burn her children to death".
Finally she managed to call police, who found her covered in blood and mouthing for help.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how on June 14, the victim agreed to meet the 37-year-old at a pub as he told her he was suicidal.
After spending a couple of hours together, Currie then asked her to walk back to his house, where he promised to call her a taxi.
But once she was inside, Currie refused to call a taxi, locked her in and made her endure "extreme violence."
At one point Currie banged her head on the floor and she lost consciousness. The woman woke to find him slapping her face.
The court heard Currie then strangled her, "mocking her", and she couldn't breathe.
Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, said police received a call from a neighbour at 9.15am on June 15, saying they had heard a man shouting at a woman, who was crying.
Police attended the house, but Currie prevented the victim from calling out and the officers left.
The horrific attack continued, including a moment where Currie "tried to stab her" with a knife, but only struck her with the weapon, before he dragged her around by the hair and used his hands to suffocate her.
Currie was "drinking vodka straight from the bottle" and the victim tried to pour it away.
She eventually managed to call the police at around 2.25pm, before Currie smashed her phone.
Mr Pickavance said an officer banged on the door until she came to the window, when "her clothes were clearly covered in blood and she mouthed to him that she couldn't open the door".
Currie answered the door and was arrested after police found his injured victim "shaking and crying".
The woman was left with physical and mental scars from her ordeal.
He jailed Currie for three years and four months, then imposed an indefinite restraining order.
Sean McDermott
Sean McDermott tried to strangle his partner in her own home while she screamed for help from a window.
Horrified onlookers called police and officers arrived at the property to find the terrified woman, who the ECHO chose not to name, with her pyjamas ripped off.
McDermott and the woman had been in a relationship for two years when his violent behaviour suddenly began in June.
On July 11 he got home from a football match and she confronted him about a message from a girl he slept with when she was pregnant.
An argument developed and McDermott was shouting, “I’m a lunatic” as he backed her into a corner.
Mr Lander said: “She expected him to strangle her and she was right. He strangled her, grabbing her by the neck and threw her on the sofa. He pinned her down, gritting his teeth and spitting.”
They argued through the night and McDermott pressed his fingers into her ribs and further assaulted her by trying to strangle her. Neighbours heard her shouting “get off” and “help, call the police, help.”
He also began ripping doors off a wardrobe, began pulling her around and ripped off her pyjamas.
Her desperate screams led to the police being called to the house in Tranmere and he was arrested.
McDermott, of The Dell, Rock Ferry, pleaded guilty to two offences of assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
Judge David Potter said the defendant had no previous convictions and there had been no significant incidents between the couple until June this year when there was “an uncharacteristic but severe escalation in your behaviour.”
Judge Potter said he accepted that McDermott had had a poor start in life and “references speak to the person whom you are in other circumstances.”
He said they had to be marked by a sentence of imprisonment but as there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation he was suspending the 16 month term for two years.
He ordered him to carry out 120 hours unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days. He imposed a five year restraining order to keep away from his former partner and her address and ordered him to pay £340 prosecution costs.
Joseph Brown
McDermott, of The Dell, Rock Ferry, pleaded guilty to two offences of assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
Judge David Potter said the defendant had no previous convictions and there had been no significant incidents between the couple until June this year when there was “an uncharacteristic but severe escalation in your behaviour.”
Judge Potter said he accepted that McDermott had had a poor start in life and “references speak to the person whom you are in other circumstances.”
He said they had to be marked by a sentence of imprisonment but as there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation he was suspending the 16 month term for two years.
He ordered him to carry out 120 hours unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days. He imposed a five year restraining order to keep away from his former partner and her address and ordered him to pay £340 prosecution costs.
Damien Rich
A "violent cowardly bully" broke his girlfriend's eye socket and cheekbone then later hurled paint over her.
Damien Rich broke into an ex-partner's home at night and "completely trashed" the house when "off his head" on cocaine on September 4, 2020.
While on bail for that burglary, he started dating another woman, who tried to kill herself three times after his "vile" abuse.
The 28-year-old left the second woman with serious facial injuries by punching her in the face on December 23, then on Boxing Day went to the shop where she worked and grabbed and pushed her behind the till.
Rich, of Conway Street, Birkenhead, admitted burglary with intent ahead of a trial and assault causing actual bodily harm on the opening day of a trial.
He previously admitted harassment, two counts of battery and two counts of criminal damage.
Rich has 20 previous convictions for 28 offences, including wounding and attempted robbery.
He was jailed for three years and nine months.
Leslie Marshall
Leslie Marshall dropped his children off at school then came home and stabbed his wife in the neck.
The dad-of-four's vicious ambush on his partner included a knife wound "one or two centimetres" away from her heart.
She only survived after fighting with him frantically before escaping through their back garden and climbing over a fence, but has been left scarred for life.
The 51-year-old chef attacked his wife on June 25 this year, the morning after she called time on their marriage as a result of his gambling addiction, which had put the family under significant financial strain.
Their home, on Virginia Street in Southport, had been re-mortgaged multiple times and the family were struggling with debt as a result of his addiction.
Marshall admitted attempted murder and was jailed for 19 and a half years, with an extended five years on licence.
Roy Fagan
Serial woman beater Roy Fagan knocked out six of his ex-girlfriend's teeth in two terrifying street attacks.
The mum of his child took him back - for the sake of their daughter - after Fagan convinced her he'd "changed".
But a judge branded him "possessive, jealous, aggressive and violent" after hearing about his cowardly attacks on four different women, dating back to 2006.
Fagan, 37, of Westmorland Drive, Liverpool city centre, battered his latest victim in February and April this year, then broke into and smashed up her home.
He admitted two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, burglary with intent to commit criminal damage, criminal damage, and three counts of breaching a restraining order.
Fagan was jailed for three years.
Kevin Ashton
Kevin Ashton battered a vulnerable mum to death then went on the hunt for drugs.
The remorseless killer claimed Helen Joy's horrific injuries were self-inflicted as he peddled lie after lie from the witness stand during his murder trial.
Jurors took just 143 minutes to find him guilty of murder after hearing he relayed his partner's death to his cannabis dealer and his dad, but never to the emergency services.
When he was finally arrested, Ashton had the audacity to then moan: "My f***ing bird is dead, and I'm getting the blame for it now."
Ms Joy, 54, was found with 121 external injuries at the couple's Leasowe flat on Monday, February 1 this year after Ashton's dad "did the right thing" and reported her death.
Ashton, 45, claimed the mum-of-three's injuries were the result of repeated falls, but he already had three convictions for assaults on her, in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
He was jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years.
Daniel Palmer
A jealous boyfriend hit a young mum in the eye with his mobile phone leaving her disfigured and with double vision.
Daniel Palmer told his victim "why are you making me do this?" as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head first into a radiator and wall.
The 21-year-old then hit her with the phone - breaking her left eye socket and cheekbone - when she felt "like something had popped".
The woman went for drinks with friends in Liverpool on June 27, where she was later joined by Palmer, of Alder Avenue, Widnes.
Ms Nemat said they then went to a house in Queens Drive in Walton, where Palmer accused her of flirting with another man that evening. She denied this and asked if she could leave, but he blocked her path, pulled her by the hair, grabbed her mobile phone and smashed it.
The victim went to a bedroom to go to sleep, but Palmer got in bed next to her, called her a "liar", then wouldn't let her go. He grabbed her hair and pulled her down, causing the victim to hit her head on a radiator, then did it again in a living room, when she hit her head on a wall.
Ms Nemat said Palmer kept saying: "Why are you making me do this?"
She was taken to Aintree hospital, throwing up blood on the way, and underwent a CT scan, because she was initially feared to have a bleed on the brain.
The victim later underwent surgery for the fractures to her left eye and had two metal plates inserted in her face, but then had issues with double vision.
Recorder Parrington jailed Palmer for two and a half years, as a woman sitting in the public gallery burst into tears and held her face in her hands.
Andrew Priestley
Andrew Priestley stormed his former girlfriend's home and forced his way into her locked bedroom while she cowered in fear.
The 39-year-old threatened to "terrorise" Natasha Smith after they split up and "completely ignored" a restraining order.
He went to her house in the early hours of the morning when she was asleep in bed before confronting and assaulting her.
Priestley - who has 26 previous convictions for 75 offences - left her "constantly living in fear".
But the thug, of no fixed address but originally from Widnes, said he was sorry and never meant to cause her any distress.
He was jailed for 15 months.
Keith Page
A woman beater jailed for hurling a vase at his fiancée's head turned to her in court and said: "I'll see you around b****."
Keith Page made the sinister comment just seconds after he was handed a lifetime restraining order and locked up for 14 months.
Minutes earlier the 62-year-old had claimed to be remorseful for leaving his victim with a permanent 5cm scar on her forehead.
Former soldier Page, of All Hallows Drive, Speke, threw the vase at his bride-to-be's head after flying into a rage when England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties.
The couple were set to marry at the end of that month, but just weeks before the big day, he started texting his victim saying he didn't want to go through with the service.
The 66-year-old victim, who had been with Page for eight years, was left with bits of ceramic embedded in her forehead after the assault, late on Sunday, July 11 this year.
She said Page, who served in the Army and had post-traumatic stress disorder, could be violent and abusive, especially when drinking.
The victim felt blood dripping down her face and ran out of the house half-dressed and "crying and shaking with fear" to a neighbour's home.
Simon Duncan, prosecuting, said in a victim statement the woman said "she was so scared and frightened she knew she had to get away and she ran for her life", but partly fell down the stairs.
He said: "She was only partly dressed with no bottoms on and she had to run to her young neighbour's and she felt so ashamed of her appearance to that neighbour and bringing the situation to their door.
The court heard Page's criminal record included a battery in February 2012 against a former wife, who when drunk he had "punched and headbutted".
He accepted Page had mental health issues, but said the case was "far too serious" for a suspended prison sentence.
He was given 14 months in jail and a lifetime restraining order
Thomas Griffith
Thomas Griffith crashed a birthday party he was not invited to armed with a knife and began threatening his girlfriend and her family.
The 32-year-old began "screaming" and "shouting" at his the woman's family and friends, swinging the knife at party-goers and asking her dad "whether he wanted some of it".
He eventually held the knife to his own throat and had a panic attack.
Liverpool Crown Court heard his own young daughters, aged two and four, were present at the party, and witnessed the terrifying incident.
Kevin Slack, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, said Griffith and his then-girlfriend, Georgia Doyle, had been in a "volatile" relationship for six years with Griffith displaying "erratic behaviour".
The woman, with whom he shared two children, said he would also "threaten to harm himself" and "became moody if she wanted to see her own family".
Mr Slack said Griffith "wasn't liked" by the Ms Doyle's family and in the days leading up to her sister's birthday party they argued.
Griffith, of Clayton Road, Kirkby, admitted possession of a bladed article, affray and theft.
He was jailed for one-and-half years and a five year restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim or her parents was imposed.
Mark Collins
At the start of the year, convicted killer Mark Collins appeared in court after he left his girlfriend with a "bruised brain" and a facial fracture after an argument over a false rape claim.
The 46-year-old also left the woman with a deep cut to her face after also biting her nose.
Both Collins and the victim had been drinking when she began punching him and bit him on the wrist as the pair struggled, after which she threatened to make the false allegation, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
He then threw a phone at the woman and beat her, leaving her injured on the living room floor.
Collins, of Prenton Lane, Prenton, has a previous conviction of manslaughter in 2010 when he stabbed his victim, who had turned up to his home "mob handed".
The court heard the pair had worked together with counterfeit satellite TV cards when the victim went to Collins' address with another man and a dog.
Mr Dudley said: "The other man and the dog began to attack the defendant."
After the victim also began to attack Collins he "drew a knife and stabbed the victim to the chest."
The victim later died from his injuries and Collins was locked up for five years and five months for manslaughter.
Collins was locked up for two years for his latest attack.
Alan Reid
Racist thug Alan Reid battered his girlfriend on the same day she was discharged from hospital.
Reid, 50, had bought vodka and orange juice to drink with the woman despite her having suffered an overdose, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Later that night, June 14 this year, the 50-year-old dragged the woman by her hair after she tried to leave and was seen kicking her.
A concerned neighbour, named in court as Mr Fashola, helped the woman and took her to his flat, but dad-of-three Reid then hurled vile racist abuse and waved a knife through his letterbox.
Mr Fashola's mum, Mrs Bourke, arrived and as she walked towards her son's flat Reid brandished a broken beer glass and hurled racist insults while threatening to stab her.
Reid then hit the woman causing "bruising and swelling".
The court heard Reid's now ex suffered bruising, sore ribs, swelling and an injury to her right cheek.
Reid, of Winmarleigh Street, Warrington, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, assault by beating, racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence and racially aggravated assault.
He was jailed for two years and three months and an indefinite restraining order was imposed.
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