Norton Man jailed after violent attack on girlfriend who jumped out of an upstairs window to escape

A Teesside man, who launched a lengthy violent attack on his partner, has been jailed for more than four years.

Shane Thomas, 34, assaulted his girlfriend after she returned home late from a night out.

The couple had been out separately on October 2, 2021. When his partner arrived home after him, he warned her not to dare come into the bedroom and give him "kisses and cuddles".

Teesside Crown Court heard that Thomas then grabbed the woman by the jaw, screamed and shouted at her, before landing punches to her face and body.

His girlfriend told police that she estimated she was punched 30 times. She added that Thomas told her "I'll f****** kill you" before repeatedly knocking her to the floor.

She was left with blood dripping from cuts to her head.

Not yet finished with the attack, Shane Thomas locked the front door, snapping the key and leaving the girlfriend trapped inside with him.

When she threatened to call the police, Thomas spat at her and dragged her around the house by her arm, before continuing his attack.Thomas pulled a door off its hinges when the woman tried to escape.

The woman eventually managed to escape by jumping out of an upstairs window. She was left lying in the garden, in her pyjamas, with a broken leg. She managed to get out onto the street, but Thomas came outside and continued to assault her.Shane Thomas, of Crook Crescent in Norton, pleaded guilty to section 20 assault causing grievous bodily harm; criminal damage and to robbery, at an earlier hearing. The court heard that the couple had been in a relationship for 10 months and that the aftermath of the attack was witnessed by the woman's young son and her mother.The court heard that the woman had to have a plate inserted into her leg and was left with extensive bruising to her face and body.In a statement, the woman said: "I felt scared for my life. I felt trapped. I believe if I hadn't done what I did, I would have died that day".

The woman said she was forced to drag herself to the street outside after jumping out of the window. She told the court that she was embarrassed that her neighbours saw her covered in blood when the police arrived.

Christopher Morrison, defending, said that his client had called his girlfriend an unpleasant name when she came home late, and she then bit him on the nose, and "the matter escalated from there. She suffered a level of injury which was out of all proportion to his intentions".Shane Thomas appeared in court via videolink from Durham Prison, where he has been on remand for the last six months.Judge Jonathan Carroll told Thomas that this was "a truly disgraceful and extended piece of violent conduct towards someone who was supposed to be your girlfriend" and that the robbery was "not a sudden and impromptu offence. You saw your target and followed him".The judge handed Thomas a four-year-ten-month prison term and made him the subject of a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting his ex-girlfriend for 10 years.