A disabled teenager fled from her drunken boyfriend's clutches after he throttled her at the Hard Days Night Hotel and hid in another guest's room.
Elliot Harris downed shots and cocktails on the Albert Dock during a planned romantic weekend away before strangling his partner and telling her "I wouldn't care if you were dead". She was left "thinking she was going to die" when she looked into her abuser's eyes while lying helpless as he wrapped his hands around her neck.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that he had been in a relationship with his 19-year-old victim, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, for around a year when they booked a weekend in Liverpool city centre, checking into the North John Street hotel on Friday, November 18, last year. Derek Jones, prosecuting, described how they spent the evening drinking in bars on the Albert Dock, although Harris "had a lot more to drink than she did".
READ MORE: Connor Chapman admits handling stolen Mercedes 'used in murder of Elle Edwards'
While "things had been fine throughout the night", upon returning to their room at around 2am the following day the 20-year-old "started an argument with her concerning her father, whom it seems the defendant doesn't particularly like or get on with" as she undressed. His crying girlfriend, who suffers from a disability which causes the paralysis of the left-hand side of her body, "begged him to stop screaming" as he shouted her and got up off the bed to leave.
But Harris - of Cavendish Close in Old Hall, Warrington - took hold of her by her right arm and pulled her back into the room, pressing her against a wall and shouting in her face. He then knocked on the wall and said "the walls are thick, no one will hear you" before dragging her onto the bed and wrapping both of his hands around her neck as he lay on top of her.
She recalled "looking into his eyes and thinking she was going to die" as he squeezed at her throat while continuing to shout at her. Next, Harris pinned her against wall and chillingly told her: "I wouldn't care if you were dead, because you are your dad's daughter."
He put his hands around her throat again but, despite being left struggling to breathe, she fought back and managed to break free - running out of the room screaming. Other residents came to her aid upon hearing the commotion, "giving her shelter" in their room.
They then contacted hotel management, with staff describing the complainant as "shaking, crying and struggling to speak" and with red marks around her throat when she subsequently presented at the front desk. Her dad then collected the teen and took her home.
Police attended the hotel and arrested Harris - who was "conservatively" said to have necked eight shots, two cocktails and four beers from around 8pm onwards - after finding him asleep in bed. Under interview, he claimed that he and his partner had had a "verbal argument" in room but denied being violent towards her.
A statement read out to the court on the victim's behalf described how she was left "feeling vulnerable and targeted" following the incident. She also suffers from nightmares and "wakes up thinking he's in the room".
Ben Berkson, defending, told the court: "He acknowledges he consumed a boatload of alcohol. He strikes me as a young man with a lot of learning to do.
"This is a domestic violence offence, one he's going to have to carry for the rest of his life. Clearly, it was an incident borne out of excessive alcohol consumption."
Harris, who has no previous convictions, was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm during a trial before Liverpool Magistrates' Court. He was handed 14 months in a young offenders' institute this afternoon and given a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim or entering her street indefinitely.
Sentencing, Recorder Paul Taylor said: "You had way too much to drink. You started an argument over some issues you had concerning her father.
"How that was something she was responsible for is difficult to see. Arguments, albeit not leading to violence, had been a feature of your relationship.
"She couldn't get away. It must have been terrifying.
"She thought you were not going to stop. She thought she was going to die.
"I bear in mind there is still some level of immaturity. But your offence terrified your former partner.
"It was not a momentary offence from which you desisted quickly. She thought you were the reason she was going to die."
READ NEXT: Man, 21, charged with murder of Joseph Holland
Heroin and crack dealer who offered 'fat bags for 20' caught when he ordered taxi
Purse thief's ironic response to OAP after she confronts him in Asda
Drunk burglar fell asleep for four hours but escaped wearing victim's jumper
Killers drivers, charity boss and pervert chef among 14 crooks jailed this week
