A thug burst into his ex-girlfriend's house brandishing a baseball bat while she was in the shower then threatened to crash into the shop where she worked.
Mark Rooney then went on to form a new relationship but attacked this partner too. The 35-year-old threw a can of beer at his second victim's head at a campsite and said he wanted to burn her face with a barbeque before knocking her out.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Monday, that he formed a "volatile" relationship with the first complainant in November 2020. The couple went on holiday together during September last year, but Rooney assaulted her and "behaved in a threatening manner" while they were away.
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Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, described how he took her mobile phone away from her and only gave it back once they had returned. Upon touching back down at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, she got changed in order to hide bruises she had suffered at his hands.
But Rooney - of Lees Avenue in Rock Ferry, Wirral - became angered by this, and when they arrived at her Tranmere home he took her car without permission and went to buy beer. She ended the relationship, but on October 2 her abuser forced his way into her house while she was in the shower.
The defendant, who was armed with a baseball bat, began "shouting and making threats". Her friend intervened and drove her away to her workplace, but Rooney followed them and continued his threatening behaviour - saying he would drive into the window of the shop.
Over the following days, she began receiving messages from him telling her he would post private sexual images of her online. He called her a "grass", adding that a "picture of your dirty, horrible f***y is going everywhere".
She reported his actions to the police on October 11, telling officers she had been subjected to a number of assaults by Rooney - who was "controlling throughout" their relationship. On December 16, the railways worker then sent a picture of her naked vagina to a friend.
In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, she described being left "feeling hurt mentally and physically" and "in constant fear". But since leaving Rooney, she "feels much stronger and able to move forward".
Rooney pleaded guilty to charges relating to this abuse and was released on bail awaiting sentence. Then, in August this year, he and his new partner went to stay at a campsite.
A previous relationship between the two ended due to his violent behaviour, but had by then been rekindled. They had been drinking, and an argument erupted over Rooney's anger over phone numbers she had saved in her contacts.
He threw a can of beer at his new partner, then told her "you're lucky it was just a can, if I had it my way I would burn your face with the barbeque". After this, she went and sat in the car and spoke to her mum in a call while he was at the bar.
Rooney then returned, took her phone from her, hung up and called her a "grass". He hit her in the face with the phone when she tried to take it back, causing her to lose conciousness.
When she came to, he was tending to her wounds - including a split lip - and saying "he couldn't go to jail and not to do this to him". Rooney then took her to hospital but told her to state that she had suffered her injuries after falling over.
It was later found that she had broken her arm when falling, but he "wouldn't leave her alone with nursing staff". The next day, he sent a string of threatening message and voice notes to his partner via WhatsApp.
She reported in a statement read out to the court on her behalf that she "felt disappointed in herself for allowing him back into her life". Rooney has 11 previous for 13 offences - including assault, criminal damage, breaching a non-molestation order and drug offences.
Anna Price, defending, told the court that her client works as an engineer for Network Rail and that his job could be "kept open for eight or nine months" while "metal health issues and cocaine misuse were significant issues in his life". She added: "His time on remand has given him an opportunity to think and sort himself out.
"He knows it is totally unacceptable. He doesn't seek to put forward any excuses for his behaviour and he is genuine remorseful."
Rooney, who appeared via video link to HMP Altcourse, admitted two counts of harassment, threatening to disclose private sexual photographs, disclosing private sexual photographs and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was jailed for 42 weeks.
Recorder Eric Lamb handed him restraining orders preventing him from contacting both women for 10 years. Rooney will also be required to pay a victim surcharge.
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